Here, There, and Everywhere
by Rahh Gumba Foo
Summary: Breaking into offices, uncovering the mystery of a certain prosecutor's disappearance, all while gathering the courage to admit his feelings for his assistant... all in a day's work for Phoenix Wright!
1. Chapter 1

Hello, all!

This first chapter is cheesy, I know. But bear with me-- I think you'll like the upcoming chapters.

This is told from Phoenix's POV... obviously.

* * *

_Had it been another day, I might've looked the other way, and I'd have never been aware-- but as it is, I'll dream of her tonight..._

Being in love with your best friend is terrifying.

I'm not sure what it was that intensified my feelings for Maya Fey that night.

Maybe it was the dim lighting in that fancy restaurant we went to, or that sparkling black mini-dress she had gotten specifically to wear to that restaurant-- well, more specifically, the way she _looked_ in it. It could've been the poised way in which she carried herself that night (after all, it was her twentieth birthday). Or maybe it was the playful way she somehow got me to chase her through a rainstorm...

The reason is irrelevant. As soon as Maya stepped out her bedroom door and exclaimed, "I'm ready to go, Nick!", I knew it would be the night that I'd finally get the chance to tell her what I'd been dying to for months: the small, insignificant fact that I was in love with her.

It all started when I was sitting across from her at that small, daintily-decorated table, in the corner of some Italian bistro that Pearls had made reservations at-- of course, she'd only reserved two seats. From the moment I sat down, I was sweating bullets-- wondering, with the passing of every minute, when the time would be right.

"This place is pretty nice, huh? Pearls did a good job picking out a restaurant," I made small talk as I looked through the menu. Somewhat discreetly under the table, I felt for the box I'd put under my chair, making sure nothing had happened to it. It was a present for Maya that I was _dying_ to give her.

"She sure did," Maya replied. "This place is so cute! And romantic..."

"Hah, yeah."

"Aw, Nick! Look around. This place is full of lovey-dovey couples. I feel left out."

"And?" I cleared my throat uncomfortably. "You're not suggesting we--"

"I am."

_Objection...?_

Maya took on this flirtatious persona as she grabbed my hand from across the table. My heart melted as I felt her tiny fingers inbetween mine. My heart had a way of making me feel overwhelmingly lovesick-- especially when Maya held my hand. It was the only time that I ever felt completely secure. "It was awfully sweet of you to take me out to such a romantic place, Nick."

Although my face was turning a shade of embarrassed pink (I had become very familiar with this shade lately), I played along. She'd only start yelling at me if I didn't. "Well... my dear deserves the very best, doesn't she? After all, she turns twenty tonight."

Maya smirked, "You're perfect, darling."

"As are you. And might I add that you look simply stunning, my love."

After realizing that I'd just referred to Maya as 'my love', I grimaced and pulled my hand from the center of the table, covering my face with the menu.

Maya lowered the menu to the table with her index finger. After uncovering my face, she laughed, "Turn around. Look at the reaction we're getting, Nick!"

I turned around. A man, who looked like he was having a miserable time with his date (who was chattering incessantly on her cell phone), glared over at us, envious of our seemingly-perfect relationship.

"That's _so_ awkward. He's staring at us," I muttered, turning to face Maya again.

"That's _so_ FUNNY," she cackled before the waiter walked over to our table.

The guy spoke somewhat-snobbishly, as he told us his name and asked us what we would be ordering.

Assuming her flirty alter-ego again, Maya cooed, "Why don't you order something for us to share, Nick?"

"...Uh, of course, dear." I looked up, and said, "We'll be having the chicken fettuccine alfredo tonight, please."

The waiter walked away without a word.

"It's kinda cute when you call me pet names, Nick!" Maya exclaimed softly after a minute of silence. "Your face gets all red, but you say it with such a smile!"

My mind was screaming at me. I couldn't even hear Maya over my brain's obnoxious chatter...

_"Yeah, well, I've been waiting to call you my love for some time now, Maya..." Just say it, Phoenix! Stop being such a wimp!_

I felt my face turning red again. "Yeah... well... if we practice long enough, maybe I won't blush when I call you my... hm, angel?"

_Wimp._

"Pfft. Angel? Now _that's_ kinda cheesy... But if it comes from your heart, my dear Nick, I guess it'll do."

She thought I was just kidding around. I wish I could say I was. I changed the subject before she could say anything else. "Speaking of cheesy... are you ready to open your present?"

"YES! Aww, Nick!" Maya cheered as I took out the box from under the table.

My stomach turned as she ripped off the wrapping paper, revealing a plain-looking box. She ripped that open, as well... to find a big book.

"What is it...?" Maya asked.

"Look inside!"

I'd made her a scrapbook.

The first five pages of a scrapbook, actually-- five pages on which I'd spent the entire previous night working. I'd put little frames around the pictures of us, captions... the whole deal. I felt embarrassed at my work as Maya marveled.

"This is... oh my gosh, Nick!" She looked up at me affectionately. "You spent all that time working on this... for me...?"

I answered, as my face turned a deeper shade of red, "Yeah... and, you know, it's not finished."

"It's not?"

"Of course not... I was thinking, as we spend more time with each other in the future, that we could finish it... together?"

"NICK!"

"I mean, um, only if you want to."

"Are you _kidding_?" Maya grinned. "Of course I want to! Wow, this is the sweetest thing anybody's done for me..."

_Time to lay it all on the line!_

After a while, I responded, "Well, we're best friends, right?"

_Or not._

Unfortunately, that's all we were at the time-- friends.

The rest of dinner wasn't worth mentioning. I was dazed the entire time, ripping myself apart for being so afraid to tell her how I felt.

In my mind, the scene played out perfectly: she'd say something about how nice the night was, and I'd smile at her knowingly, before suavely professing my undying love for her.

... That would never happen. In reality, things would go as ungracefully as they possible could. I imagined the scene-- I'd choke on a piece of chicken sometime during dinner, and while the waiter was giving me the Heimlich, I would clumsily cough up an "I love you" before I passed out. Upon regaining consciousness, I'd see Maya standing over me, laughing.

I shuddered at the thought of something that embarrassing happening, and shuddered again when I realized that, with my luck, it was entirely possible.

The food was mediocre for its price, but we laughed about it (as we always did) and poked fun at our pretentious waiter. It was already ten o'clock, and, assuming my role as Maya's Romeo-esque lover, I took her hand delicately as we left the place.

It was pouring outside, much to my dismay. I'd never seen rain come down so fast.

Maya didn't even notice. She handed me the scrapbook for safe-keeping, and jumped onto the sidewalk and into the rain like a little girl. Her clothes and hair were already completely soaked after only a minute.

"Come on, Nick! Just cover my book with your jacket-- this rain is too great to miss!" Maya coaxed me to leave the shelter of the restaurant's doorway. As she said this, a car passed by... splashing her legs with muddy water. Even _she_ was a little disgusted by this.

"There's no way I'm leaving this spot," I stated, my feet planted firmly in the restaurant's entrance.

"Fine," she yelled. "I'll just _run_ home!"

With that, she sprinted off. Not having a choice but to chase after her, I rolled my eyes and prepared for the inevitable tidal wave that would hit me as soon as I stepped out the door.

At this rate, I was never going to be able to tell Maya what I'd been dying to tell her all night.

_Hey, this isn't so bad--_

As soon as this thought entered my brain, a crash of thunder and a sudden burst of intense rain poured down over my head.

I tried to catch up to Maya, bumping into every person and every thing possible as I did so. If I remember correctly, I might've flipped over a trash can. I wiped the rain from my eyes as I ran. When it comes to chasing someone as fast as Maya, one must be completely ruthless.

I managed to catch up to her as she waited for a cab. I snuck up behind her and, inconspicuously closing in on her from behind, whispered, "Maya?"

She screamed and jumped a foot in the air. She held out her hand as if to strike me. I yelled, terrified. Finally, she realized I was the one who had whispered in her ear, and we both sighed in relief. "Oh, Nick! You scared me..."

Without pause, Maya wrapped her arms around my waist. I said, "You know, one of these days, I'm not gonna come chasing after you. What'll you do then?"

"I don't think I have to worry about _that_. Nick, you've been chasing me around since the first day we met!" Maya joked back. I laughed, quietly acknowledging her completely-accurate statement. "But I don't mind. I'm glad you care enough to chase me."

I hailed a passing taxi, and told the man driving it to take us home. He was a little reluctant to let us in his back seat since we were so wet, but Maya hopped in before he could protest much.

We drove home in silence. I looked out the window, while Maya grabbed her scrapbook from me and looked through the pictures once again. I occasionally glanced over at her, and let overly-romantic thoughts enter my head. A bump in the road, or our taxi driver honking at another car, would bring me back to reality, though, and I looked away before she could notice me gawking at her.

_It's now or never, Phoenix._

"What?" I asked myself aloud. I covered my mouth after I realized I'd just spoken. Maya looked up from the pages of her scrapbook and gave me a worried look, then slowly returned back to what she was looking at.

_Tell her before it's too late!_

"Maya," I spoke softly, placing my hand on her arm to get her attention. This was it-- the moment I'd long been waiting for. "I have something to tell you..."

"What is it?"

"Well, I've been thinking. And, I... I can't let this night pass without telling you that, umm--" I inhaled, wondering if then-- inside the taxi --was the best place to say it. What if she responded negatively? "Sorry... I'll tell you once we get back home."

"_DAMN IT_!" The taxi driver spat as he honked at a guy who cut him off. The car swerved dangerously close to a tree along the sidewalk. Maya screamed as she jerked towards me, grabbing onto my shirt for dear life. I clenched the side of the seat with as much force as I could, and prayed that I wouldn't go flying through the front window. The guy swerved back onto the road, and after a moment, said nonchalantly, "Sorry 'bout that."

"So you couldn't let the night pass without telling me that...?" Maya begged for me to finish what I started saying.

But I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

_Nice one. I thought you were a man! This is the night, Phoenix!_

I stopped myself from saying anything out loud.

What a strange mood I was in.

We arrived back to the apartment complex, and I opened the cab door for Maya. She took my hand, and didn't let it go until we reached the steps leading to our apartment door. My heart melted for the second time that night.

She shook her hair out before she stepped inside. She flung water into my eyes, but I didn't complain.

"Go in the kitchen-- I'm gonna go get you a towel," I told her.

"Mmkay," Maya responded casually. "I'm making hot chocolate!"

I ran to the bathroom and grabbed Maya's favorite towel-- the one with the Pink Samurai on it. I grabbed a plain blue towel for myself and headed back to the kitchen.

Maya already had two cups of cocoa on the table.

I held out the Pink Samurai towel for her. She ran into me, shivering as I wrapped it around her shoulders. I wrapped the other towel around myself, and we sat down.

"I'm freezing," Maya complained, taking the seat next to me.

"Yeah, I wonder why," I laughed quietly, gulping down the cocoa. "You're gonna be sick tomorrow."

"Oh, well..." Maya seemed preoccupied. "So tell me what you were gonna say in the taxi!"

I froze. Maya looked at me as if I were crazy. I probably was.

"It's... nothing," I mumbled.

"Nothing?" Maya seemed a little disappointed.

"Well, I... please don't laugh."

"Oh, I won't!"

"I, well... I think you're the most beautiful girl in the world." I wanted to slap myself for saying that, and for not saying what I _really_ was going to say...

And it was too late to say anything else. Maya grinned, and hugged me. She pulled out her camera from her purse, which was sitting on the table. "Nick, you are too sweet. We need a picture of this night! Smile big!"

Without time for me to realize what she was doing, Maya leaned into me and kissed me on the cheek. She held out her arm, snapped a picture, and laughed.

"Look at this!" She pointed to the image on the screen. "It's adorable."

I leaned in to see the picture. Our faces were flushed, probably from all that running in the cold. My worried-looking eyebrows and my crooked smile made me look like a scared puppy. I'm horrible at hiding my fear-- when I realized what Maya was doing as she took the picture, my heart started pounding nervously.

"This will be the first picture we paste into the scrapbook," Maya concluded.

"It's a keeper."

Maya yawned, "I'm actually really tired."

"Why don't you go to bed?"

"I guess I will," Maya got up to go to her bedroom. I followed her.

"Hey, I have an idea!" I exclaimed. "I'll cook you breakfast tomorrow... you know, to make up for the crappy food we just had."

_Hey, maybe you can squeeze a syrupy "I love you" onto one of the pancakes..._

"Sounds good, Nick!" Maya said as she fell onto me for a hug. "This has been a great birthday... _my love_." She laughed mischeviously.

"Hey, don't make fun of me!" I defended myself, resting my chin on her head.

"I'm not... _dearest_," Maya replied inbetween yawns.

After a while, I reluctantly broke the hug, and said goodnight.

My least favorite part of every day had, over time, become saying good night-- the phrase only reminded me that another day had gone by without revealing what I really felt for the young woman who slept in the bedroom across from mine. With that thought, I shuffled across the hallway, slammed my bedroom door shut, and plopped down on my less-than-luxurious mattress.

I, Phoenix Wright, always seem to go running head-first into situations I don't know how I'm going to get out of-- in AND out of the courtroom. This situation was no different. I didn't know how I was going to confess to Maya that I'd been harboring feelings for her. But that night, there was this grinding feeling in the pit of my stomach-- like time was running out and I had to do something _soon_.

The syrup idea was looking pretty good.

I flipped open my cell phone for the hell of it. I was surprised to find out someone had actually left me a message.

_"Hey, Mr. Wright! It's me, pal!"_

Gumshoe. Dick Gumshoe. Arguably the biggest ignoramus in the police force, but one of the kindest guys I know.

_"Hey! Hey! I was wondering if you knew where Mr. Edgeworth was. I don't. I thought you would be with him. Okay, bye, pal!"_

I wasn't sure what that was all about.

At the time, I didn't know that what Gumshoe would tell me over the phone the next day would, in many different ways, change the course of my career.

I didn't even bother calling back. I was too busy picking apart every word I said to Maya that night, and vice versa.

Still wrapped in my soaking wet towel, I shivered until I finally fell into a light sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The alarm clock went off sometime around 7:00. I grumbled mild profanities to myself as I literally rolled out of bed and onto the floor. I pulled on some sweatpants and a T-shirt that happened to be laying there next to me.

I hated wearing pants around the apartment... And ever since Maya moved in, I had to wear pants every morning-- I couldn't just walk around in my boxer-briefs, could I?

Well, I guess I could, but it would be a rather uncomfortable situation... on my end, at least.

The kitchen was eerily quiet. I couldn't hear a bird chirping outside as I opened the pantry. I started humming to myself as I grabbed the pancake mix.

My eyes could barely stay open as I clumsily dumped half the box of pancake mix, a couple eggs, and some milk into a bowl. As I poured the mix into the frying pan, I let my mind wander.

I wondered if Maya was awake yet. She usually woke up before I did.

Daydreaming, I lifted my hand and felt my cheek where Maya'd kissed it the previous night.

"I love you," I mumbled out loud. It seemed so simple.

I had my chance that night to tell her, and I let it pass me by. I barely even dropped so much as a _hint_ eluding to my feelings for her. I'd never been that good with words, but I was feeling extremely tongue-tied lately.

_I wonder where Edgeworth is, anyway..._

My mind going in all sorts of different directions, I ran into my room quickly to get my cellphone. I raced back over to the stove, to supervise the cooking pancakes. I fumbled with the phone, dialing Gumshoe's number, as I simultaneously tried to flip over a couple of the pancakes. I guess I overestimated how high I needed to flip them-- one ended up flinging backwards and onto the wall behind me.

"Hey, you're not gonna believe this, pal!" was the first thing Gumshoe said when he answered. He seemed a little frantic.

"You got a raise?" I joked, trying to hide my frustration of having to clean the wall _and_ continue watching the other pancakes that had survived my flipping.

"I'm being serious."

"Oh... well, tell me. What is it?"

"Mr. Edgeworth has been fired!"

I gasped, dropping the spatula. "Damn it!" I cursed, bending down in aggravation to pick up that worthless cooking utensil. "And, you're kidding, right?"

"That's why I said you're not gonna believe this! Oh, man... _that's_ why he was nowhere to be found last night! And neither were you, Mr. Missing-In-Action! Were you on a hot date, pal?"

Ignoring Gumshoe's last few words, I said, "Well, he's got to be somewhere. Have you checked his house?"

"I searched the entire place-- and that took a long time. His house is massive, pal."

This news was _not_ what I needed first thing in the morning. "I can't... I can't even think clearly right now. I have a case today... am I going to see you in court?"

"Yeah, I'll be there."

"We'll talk about this then. I'm sort of busy right now."

"At 7:15 in the morning?"

"Yes, at 7:15 in the morning," I replied shortly. "I'll see you at the courthouse." With that, I hung up. Just as I did, Maya came waltzing into the kitchen.

Well, actually, she was practically crawling in. She looked awful-- her eyes were dark, she had her comforter wrapped around her, and was coughing all over the place.

"You were right about me getting sick," she moaned, plopping her weak body at the table.

"Really? Well... now what am I gonna do with all these pancakes?" I sighed disappointedly, trying to hide my aggravation... and preoccupation with what I'd just heard from Gumshoe.

"Well... I'll still eat 'em, Nick!" she sniffed back. Relieved that my hard work wasn't going to be wasted, I flipped a couple onto a plate and placed them in front of her. I got out the syrup from the refridgerator... and reluctantly let her put some on her pancakes. I gave up on the whole syrupy _I love you_ thing. "Ugh... I feel like a have a thousand-degree fever."

"Hm," I bent down to get closer to her face. I pressed my cheek against her forehead; "I don't know if I'd say _a thousand_... but you might be in the low hundreds, yeah."

Maya took a big bite out of one of the pancakes, and coughed a little. "Don't you have a case today? Man, now I can't be there..."

"Don't worry. We pretty much have this one in the bag, so I'll hurry up and get home when it's over." I looked at Maya, who seemed to be having a difficult time eating without coughing everything up. "Uh... don't strain yourself. Why don't you just go back to bed?"

"Ugh... 'kay," she pouted, getting up and dragging herself back towards her room. "See you in a few hours. I'm going back to sleep..."

"Good idea. I hope you feel a little better by then," I replied before she closed her bedroom door.

_Because I sure won't..._

_Ugh._

_Edgeworth, how could you let yourself get fired?_

Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. I tried to think of a possible reason why Edgeworth could've been fired as I got dressed, but I failed to do so.

--

The tension levels were at an all-time high at court.

I met up with Gumshoe in the lobby while my client was in questioning... and that was a complete waste of time. None of us had any idea where Edgeworth was or why he was gone, let alone why he was _fired_. I was pretty agitated by the entire situation, and things got worse when Franziska Von Karma showed up.

"Ah, Phoenix Wright," I heard a familiar voice creep up behind me, "I'm not sure if it's any of your _business_ to be here..."

I turned around, and sure enough, there she was: Franziska von Karma in the flesh. Her appearance took me by surprise-- she had a black eye. I replied, deciding not to bring up her facial deformity, "What are you talking about? This is my case."

"I mean, it's none of your business to be foolishly talking with the _prosecution's_ detective!"

"Sorry," I grumbled sarcastically. "We were talking about Edgeworth."

"Pfft. Speaking of which," Franziska suddenly seemed interested. "Phoenix Wright, could I have a word with you?"

"Uh, yeah, we're talking right now."

"Scruffy, you are not wanted here," she barked in Gumshoe's direction. He pouted and walked away. Franziska turned back to me, and half-whispered, "What do you know about Miles Edgeworth?"

"Apparently, nothing. I mean, I never thought he'd get _fired_... what'd he do, anyway?"

Franziska furrowed her brow, looking away. "That fool, Miles Edgeworth... I always knew he was a... _fool_."

"A fool, huh?" I tried not to laugh at Franziska's lack of a rich vocabulary. "What did he do to you?"

"Last night, I tried to console him, after he heard the news-- and he called me a _bitch_ and threw his briefcase at me!"

I wasn't sure whether to believe that or not.

"Miles Edgeworth is nothing but a fraud. He said so himself," she stated after a while.

I asked skeptically, "Himself? When?"

"He left a letter before he left, you know," Franziska exclaimed, making it obvious that she was waiting for me to ask that question. From out of nowhere, she pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. "Look at this!"

I opened the note and started reading.

_Hello,  
_"Not now, you fool!" Franziska interrupted me. "It's almost time for the trial. Oh, and by the way, let's keep this information between you and me for now, okay, Phoenix Wright? I wouldn't want this letter getting into the wrong hands..."

She walked away. I shoved the piece of paper into my pocket without thinking twice about it. I grabbed my briefcase from off the floor and prepared for the trial.

--

Ryland McMurphy was convicted for murder. I lost.

There was something strange going on in that courtroom. I couldn't focus. I felt like I'd never seen any of the evidence before, despite the fact that I knew exactly who the real criminal was. My client was innocent. I was sure of it.

Franziska presented a piece of evidence, though-- a knife I'd never seen before --and claimed the fingerprints on the knife belonged to my client, and the blood was that of the victim's.

I knew there was no way that knife existed prior to the trial. I asked for a blood test-- she was right, the red stain on the knife was none other than the victim's blood.

Since I'd never seen the evidence before, I couldn't present anything that contradicted it without sounding like a completely misinformed idiot. With one last desperate breath, I tried to spit out a few words that might help my case, and the judge threatened to hold me in contempt of court.

After a grueling hour or so, I lost. My client was dragged away by a couple violent-looking bailiffs. My _innocent_ client was dragged away.

I didn't have a chance to talk to Franziska after the trial-- she was gone before I could even get her attention. In fact, I was the last person to leave the courtroom.

_What would Mia say about this?_

Before I got ready to head back home, I stopped in the bathroom. I locked myself in one of the stalls, and grabbed the crumpled piece of paper from my pocket that I'd been eager to read all morning.

Edgeworth's letter.

_Hello,_

_It's rather ironic that I started by saying "hello", when really, this is a goodbye. I couldn't bring myself to tell you this in person. I'm sure you will be quite shocked when you've finished reading._

_I've tried to cover up so many things about myself lately, I thought it would be a good idea to finally rid myself of this unbearable burden._

I never knew Edgeworth had an unbearable burden he couldn't wait to rid himself of. I kept reading.

_It's no secret that I haven't always played fairly during trials. I've used false evidence in court on many different occasions. Throughout the course of my career, I've bribed witnesses. Blackmail, too, has come into play more times than I can remember. On one occasion, I recall looking into a witness's eyes as she was about to reveal a piece of information beneficial to the defendant's case-- I glared at her, reminding her of the deal she'd made with me earlier._

"Wait a minute!" I mumbled out loud. "Edgeworth would never do that!"

_"Your son is safe with me... that is, as long as you play by my rules..."_

_She lied and told the judge she saw the defendant stabbing the victim, of course._

_I shudder to think of this. I can't hide it anymore-- I was raised and taught to do business this way. I thought it was right. A few years ago, thanks to the help of an old friend, I thought I would give all that up... but with my win record slipping further and further away from perfection (and more towards complete failure), I've been tempted to forge again._

The words I was reading were completely ridiculous. Not only was Edgeworth innocent of forgery (I knew that for a fact), I knew that he was also winning cases left and right. He wouldn't write something so completely false.

An eerie, unnatural feeling haunted the page as I continued reading.

_The judiciary system was created to protect and enforce the truth. What have I done? I've been selfish and tampered with the system to make myself seem like a prodigy. I've got to escape myself, somehow. If the only way to do so is to leave town, that is what I must do._

_I ask that this information be respected for what it is. No, it's nothing to be proud of-- it's just a pathetic fool's way of dealing with his problems-- and perhaps his crumbling sanity. I hope to leave this all behind for good._

_Sincerely, Miles Edgeworth_

"... Are you kidding me?"

I threw the paper onto the ground, crumpling it up. As I unlocked myself from the stall, I noticed that three men were waiting in line, and all giving me a peculiar look. I guess they'd all heard me speaking to myself...

I politely excused myself, and dashed out the couthouse door.

I usually have to walk through dark alleys to get home, but while I walked home that day, I couldn't help but feel a heightened sense of suspicion that someone was out to get me.

--

"Maya!"

I opened the door to Maya's bedroom, carrying a box of Chinese takeout. I took a deep breath and prepared myself to seem like I was in a decent mood (the truth being that I was completely confused and agitated as hell).

"Nick!" she croaked back. She had the blankets stretched up to her chin, and a mountain of tissues on her side table. She looked pretty sick.

I rushed to her side, sitting on the edge of her bed. I hurriedly opened the box of Chinese, and grabbed a fork; "I hope it's not cold. I tried to get here as quickly as I could..."

"Thanks. You're the best." Maya didn't touch the food anyway.

"Not hungry?"

"I'm too tired to pick up that fork," Maya's doe eyes met mine, begging for sympathy.

"Are you serious?" I frowned, raising my eyebrow. She nodded back. I sighed, picking up the fork myself and scooping out a little fried rice. I held the fork up to her mouth until she took a bite.

"Much better, Nick," she smiled with satisfaction.

_Yeah, you were planning to make me feed you this entire time, weren't you, dearest?_

I didn't mind, though. I continued shoveling fried rice into Maya's "sick" mouth. After half the box (which was pretty big) was gone, I let up. Maya made as much room for me as possible next to her on her tiny mattress. I laid down next to her, resting my hands behind my head.

"So how was the trial?" she asked curiously.

I grimaced, "Don't ask... I don't even remember what happened."

"You got knocked out _again_?!"

"No, not amnesia. I remember what happened, but I can't believe it did."

"What!?"

"I lost, Maya."

She didn't say anything for a moment. When what I said had finally registered in her brain, Maya exclaimed, "WHAT!? We had that case! He was innocent!"

"I know."

"Then why did you let the judge declare him gui--"

"I didn't just _let_ him, Maya," I spat through clenched teeth.

_Did I just snap at Maya?_

_Wow._

"Sorry," I retreated. "I didn't know what to do. I'd never seen that knife before. Franziska just whipped it out, and the case was over."

"Franziska von Karma, huh?"

"Yeah."

Maya nuzzled her head into my chest, closing her eyes like she was going to fall asleep there. I froze a little bit. I wondered if she could hear my heart pounding.

_No, it's nothing to be proud of-- it's just a pathetic fool's way of dealing with his problems..._

_Just a pathetic fool's way of dealing with his problems..._

_A pathetic fool's way..._

I don't think I ever heard Edgeworth use the word "fool" in my many years of knowing him.

_A pathetic FOOL'S way--_

_No way!_

"Maya," I exclaimed out of the blue, "Do you think she's capable of sinking so low as to... sell out her brother?"

"Franziska? ...Well, she's probably done worse. Right, Nick?"

"What, do you think _I_ would know anything about what she's done?"

"You should. Why do you think you lost the trial today?"

I couldn't answer that. Maya exhaled audibly, and as she did, she wrapped an arm around my stomach. My hands involuntarily came out from under my neck and went around her shoulders.

_Since when do my arms have minds of their own?_

I couldn't bring myself to feel any happiness at that moment, despite the fact that I was lying there with Maya in my arms. I didn't even smile. No one said anything for a while. It wasn't exactly an awkward silence, but I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.

I was getting that itching feeling again-- that strong urge to simply lay it all on the line, confess my feelings for her. But I could never tell Maya how much I cared about her then. Not with Edgeworth missing, not with my mind completely somewhere else.

I missed my chance.

Maya's room was normally very relaxing. The lamp on her side table made the walls glow a serene peach color, and it was always quiet in there. That night, though, I felt like the walls were closing in on me.

"I think I'm gonna clear myself up with a little coffee," I stated, releasing my hold of her shoulders.

I didn't get a reply. I tried again, "Maya? I'm gonna make some coffee. You want anything?"

I heard the small sound of Maya breathing heavily. She'd fallen asleep. I groaned, wondering how I was going to get up without waking her. I realized that as soon as I sat up, her head would knock against the headboard.

I carefully slid out from underneath her, placing my hands under her neck to lay her gently back down. Her skin was warm from fever, but extremely soft; her neck so fragile it could be easily injured with one false move. Once Maya's head rested against the pillow, I sighed in relief, and pulled the blanket up to her neck.

_I love you_. It seemed so simple.

So many things that seem simple turn out to be the most complicated things one can experience. It seemed simple to profess my love for Maya, and we'd live happily ever after, and all that. But it's more complicated than it seems-- there's my lack of courage that comes into play, and the fact that I'm not exactly sure how Maya would respond.

Similarly, the idea of Edgeworth going missing was simple. All we had to do was find him. The complication started once I found out he was suddenly _fired,_ and that I have to uncover the mystery behind his ludicrous goodbye letter.

Maybe if I told Maya how I felt, things would become easier. It'd be one less worry keeping me up at night. I could focus on finding Edgeworth.

Maya snored lightly against her pillow. Her hair covered half of her face. I brushed it off to the side, allowing myself a clear view of one half of her pretty face. I knew she was sick, but...

I bent down, brushing my lips against her cheek almost desperately, hoping to find comfort in a kiss. I prayed she didn't wake up. Still asleep, she turned her face, and for a fleeting moment our lips met--

As soon as my lips realized what they were doing, Maya's eyes opened.

"Nick?!"

"MAYA?!" I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Oh, my GOD! I, I--"

_I love you._ It seemed so simple.

"I'm going to go to bed now," I squawked.

I ran out of that room as quickly as possible. Sleep was out of the question.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Didn't I tell you, Nick? Larry asked me to come over!"_

_"Larry... what the hell!? Why Larry?"_

_"Yeah! He wanted to show me something really cool! He's showing me his--"_

**DING DONG!**

Someone rang the doorbell, interrupting my dream. "What the hell?" I groaned, turning over in bed. Within seconds I drifted off again.

_"... That's weird."_

_"Don't be jealous, Nick! He'll probably let you see it someday!"_

_"Maya, it's probably really valuable. If you touched it and accidentally broke it... I'd be the one paying."_

_"But Larry said I could! He said that he and I could get together and--"_

**DING DONG!**

_"--All day."_

_"Sounds ... interesting."_

_"Nick! Maybe I'll call Larry and ask him if you can come with me to see his--"_

**DINGDONGDINGDONGDINGDONG**

My eyes shot open, not being able to withstand another second of that terribly disturbing dream. I prayed to God that Maya was talking about some sort of... Steel Samurai shrine Larry had in his basement... or _something_...

I shuddered in disgust.

**DINGDONGDINGDONGDINGDONG!!**

"Who keeps ringing the doorbell!?" I growled, throwing the comforter over my face.

I heard the apartment door open.

"Pearly!" Maya's voice rang through the apartment.

"Mystic Maya!" A little voice replied, just as cheerily.

_Pearl's a little early today..._

Usually, Pearl came over for lunch on Saturdays. It was only nine in the morning. Although I was a little reluctant to crawl out of bed, I figured it'd be best if I got up and made breakfast.

I fumbled out of bed and struggled to put on the same old blue sweatpants I wore the day before. Somehow, I lost my balance getting my right foot through the leg hole (of course... leave it to Phoenix Wright to make a scene out of something so simple as putting on pants) and ended up stumbling onto the floor awkwardly, my head hitting the ground with a loud _thump_.

The cold, dry hardwood flooring stung against my cheek. I had a great view of everything underneath my bed. Including...

"Damn it!" I rescued a small box from an army of dust bunnies who were trying to take it hostage.

_It's all dirty now..._

I sat up and meticulously examined the object. It was a small, black, velvet box... now covered in grayish lint.

_I thought I put this in my jacket pocket-- oh._

The jacket I had tucked the box inside was also thrown underneath the bed. It was the jacket I wore the night of Maya's birthday...

_I really need to start hanging up my clothes._

I scratched away at the velveteen box, trying to make it look as black as it did when I first bought it a year ago.

Yes, a year ago.

Trying to clean off the box was a lost cause. Frustrated, I threw it across the room. It clunked against one of my dresser drawers and fell to the floor.

And then I remembered what was inside that box.

_Daaaamn it!_

I crawled across the room quickly, grabbing the tiny thing and holding it tightly.

_I can't just go throwing you around, can I?_

My eyes shifted, scanning the room to make sure no one was around. The scene was already embarrassing enough. Sighing hopelessly, I opened the box.

A diamond ring sparkled back at me.

"Maya Fey, will you marry me?" It seemed so simple... as did every other profession of love I'd dreamed up but was too scared to say out loud over the years.

I missed my chance on her birthday. It was the perfect opportunity. A perfect opportunity wasted...

I've realized, over the last year, that I must be the most pathetic man in the world. I wanted to marry a young woman I'd never even kissed (well, _really_ kissed).

Of course, I rationalized the situation in my mind-- "the emotional connection is there", "the physical things don't make the relationship"... things like that. Not that any of that is false, but it doesn't hide the fact that I can't even gather up the nerve to kiss the girl.

I imagined what would happen if I tried to kiss Maya out of nowhere. I'd do it spontaneously, perhaps before saying goodnight, and she'd be so shocked that she'd slap me. And then I would pull out the box with the ring in it, and she'd laugh in my face.

... I'm sure if anyone knew that I'd been hiding that box for a year, I could never show my face in public again.

I could feel myself blushing from embarrassment, just _thinking_ about it. I closed the box and stood up. Still clutching it inbetween my palms, I pressed my ear against the bedroom door.

"Where's Mr. Nick?" I heard the muffled voice of Pearls asking Maya in the other room.

"I think he's still sleeping..."

"Good! Tell me all about Friday night, then!"

"Well...!" Maya sounded excited. I was kind of curious to hear what she had to say... silently, I cracked open my bedroom door.

"You should've seen Nick... he was being _so _cute!"

_So this is what it sounds like to hear girls review their dates with each other..._

"Really, Mystic Maya? Tell me everything!"

"Just look at what he made me."

_She's not showing her that scrapbook... _

"Aw, these pictures of you two are sooo romantic! And they say that home-made gifts are always more thoughtful than store-bought ones... so that means Mr. Nick really _is_ your special someone!"

_I knew giving a present like that would come back to haunt me._

"Not so loud, Pearly!" Maya hushed the girl. "Anyway..."

"Mystic Maya... are you ever going to _marry_ him?" Pearl asked softly.

I looked down at the box in my hand. It was taunting me as I listened to that conversation.

"I'm not sure, Pearly..."

_What?_ I jumped, almost dropping the box accidentally.

"WHAT!?" Pearl cried. Apparently she was as taken back by Maya's words as I was. "But... you have to! You have to marry your special someone!"

"It's just that, usually, the man is the one who does all that proposing stuff... and _all _that kind of stuff."

"What kind of... stuff?"

"Um! You know... asking the girl out, telling her how much he loves her... and, uh..." I could feel Maya's embarrassment hot on my own face.

"... _Kissing_ _the girl_ kind of stuff?" Pearl whispered loudly, as if it were taboo to say such a thing.

"Y-yeah."

"Well. Have you ever _kissed_ Mr. Nick?"

_She has, but she doesn't know it..._

"I'm not sure..."

"What do you mean you're not sure! You either kiss him or you don't!" Pearl exclaimed. She realized she was yelling, and repeated what she had just said, whispering every word slowly.

After a moment, Maya replied with an excited sigh, "Yeah, I know... I'm just not sure whether I was _dreaming_ or not!"

_Dreaming?!... oh, Maya..._

_She thought it was a dream! _I looked down at the box in my hand, clutching it tightly, holding my breath with boyish excitement.

"Mystic _Mayaaaa!_" Pearl swooned fanatically. "That's _sooooo_ _romantic!_"

Maya giggled. "You're not gonna go telling that to Nick, are you?"

"I _should_. Maybe he would finally ask you to marry him, then! Oh, I can't wait until the wedding... you _will_ let me help pick out your dress, won't you? And will _I_ be able to wear a dress? Ooh! And maybe Mr. Scruffy can be the best man!"

"PEARL!" Maya shouted, obviously afraid that I would be able to her the conversation. I felt a pang of guilt for listening in. "I mean... Pearly. Please..."

"Sorry."

There was silence for a while, so I figured it would be okay if I made an entrance at that point. I opened my door the rest of the way and shuffled down the tiny hallway.

I entered the living room. Maya looked up at me from the couch and smiled, but barely acknowledged my presence other than that. As a result, Pearl wasn't aware of the fact that I was in the room. She asked excitedly, "So when are you going to kiss Mr. Nick again?"

Maya froze, and her cheeks turned a bright pink. Pearl turned around to see what could possibly make Maya react in such a way...

And she, too, froze. "MR. NICK?!"

"Mr. _Nick!?_" Maya repeated, then realized that she had just called me Mr. Nick, and buried her face in the blanket she covered her legs with.

"Yes, Ms. Fey?" I replied, a little more suavely than I had intended to be. Pearl practically fainted. When no one replied, I just said, "Uh. Good morning, Pearls!"

Pearl awkwardly stammered, struggling to find the right words for such an uncomfortable moment; "W-we were just... talking about... all about how you--"

"--Were going to make us breakfast!" Maya finished Pearl's sentence.

"That's right!" I played along with Maya's little game. I opened the refridgerator to list the various breakfast options. "What do you want, Pearls... Belgian waffles? Pancakes? Cheerios?"

"Mmm... waffles!" Pearl replied. I responded by getting out the box of frozen waffles from the freezer.

The awkward sound of silence filled the room. I could tell Maya was mortified by what had just happened.

Surprisingly, I wasn't embarrassed by the situation... I was just dying to know if Maya did, in fact, want to kiss me ever again. Pearl watched both of us carefully, making sure we didn't sneak romantic looks at each other.

"So..." Pearl started, "What are we going to do today?"

"Well," I took three belgian waffles out of the oven, and drizzled a little syrup onto each. "I'm not sure. I don't have any cases to work on... so, for once, we won't be investigating!"

I set three plates of waffles down at the kitchen table, and the two girls migrated from the couch to their chairs. Pearl began devouring her breakfast immediately, but Maya just sat there, hiding her face behind one of her palms. I looked at her, as if to coax her into eating, but she wouldn't even look at me.

I glanced over at Pearl. The sun seeping through the window lit up her young, innocent face. The sun was so inviting...

"What about the lake?" I proposed.

"Oh, yes, the lake!" Pearl nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! Sounds... perfect, Nick," Maya chimed in unexpectedly, clearly trying to hide her embarrassment.

I opened my mouth to say something more meaningful to her, but couldn't find the words. I said without thinking, "Is something wrong?"

"Uh--! No, I'm just exhausted," she responded, "I could definitely use a trip to the beach."

Pretending to believe her, I replied, "Good! We can leave sometime around--" I was interrupted by my phone ringing. I jumped up from the table and grabbed the flimsy phone off the counter. "Hello?"

_"Hey, pal!"_

"Hi. You do realize it's 9:30 on a Sunday morning?"

_"Something awful's happened! You gotta get down to the police station-- and quick!"_

"Are you serious?" I glanced back at the two girls who were looking back at me with eager, wondering eyes. Pearl seemed so excited to see the beach... "What could've possibly happened on a _Sunday morning_ that would require me to race over to the police station?"

"One of the detectives! Dead!"

I sighed, looking at the clock, "Crap... I guess I'll see you in about an hour."

_"An hour?!"_

"Okay... half an hour. It's Sunday morning!" I hung up the phone frustratedly.

"What happened, Mr. Nick?" Pearl asked. "Why was Mr. Scruffy yelling like that?"

"I'm so sorry, Pearls... it looks like we're gonna have to go to the police station today, though. Someone died," I replied.

The girl gasped in horror, "That's horrible!"

"Yeah. We better get going. Who knows what Gumshoe will have to say once we actually _get_ to the police station..." I could feel a stress headache coming on already.

"Um, Mr. Nick? I'm going to the bathroom. Then we can hurry over there!" Pearl announced.

She scampered off into the hallway, leaving Maya and me alone. Maya stood up and, keeping her eyes down, made a run for the hallway as well.

I stopped her before she could, grabbing her by the shoulder. "Maya? Seriously, is something wrong?"

She looked around to make sure Pearl had left the room, then cried, "That was so incredibly embarrassing!"

"What was?" I tried to play dumb, but she gave me a knowing look, and I gave in. "Oh... _that_. Well, Pearl can't help what she says... besides, it's kind of sweet."

"She's ten years old now! You'd think she'd learn when it's appropriate to talk about certain things..." Maya twisted a lock of hair around her finger as a hint of pink appeared in her cheeks. "Wait a minute, you listened to that entire conversation, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

Maya jerked her shoulder away from my hand, her jaw dropping in disgust at the idea of me eavesdropping. "Nick, that's horrible!"

"Please don't be mad! Wait!" I tried to explain myself. I scratched the back of my neck-- it's a nervous habit of mine.

"... What is it?" Maya asked, smiling as she watched me squirm.

"You weren't dreaming."

Maya's eyes widened in disbelief as she quickly turned away.

"Yeah, um... last night, I went to kiss you on the cheek, but you turned your face towards me and I accidentally-- wait, that's not right, either..."

I slapped my palm against my forehead. Rule number one when it comes to love: never make it seem as though you didn't _want_ to kiss the girl.

"Oh," Maya responded embarrassedly, her hands on her hips. "So I guess it was stupid of me to think that you actually wanted--"

"No! I did! I mean... wait," I paused, "You _wanted_ me to... to kiss you?"

Maya clearly was enjoying the fact that I was practically eating out of the palm of her hand at that point. She smirked, "Maybe!"

We both laughed, but I was dying for a definite answer. Some decisive evidence!

"We can leave now!" Pearl chirped as she came back into the room. I looked at Maya, waiting for her to say something definite, but the smug 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' look remained on her face. At least the situation wasn't so awkward anymore. Leaving the apartment, Pearl ran ahead of the two of us.

I couldn't help myself. I turned to Maya, extending my hand as we walked out the door. "Would you?"

"I guess so... _eavesdropper_," she laughed. Her hand melted into mine... and my heart fluttered.

--

There was quite a scene at the station that day. Cop cars (even more than usual) were everywhere, and the number of people hanging around made it practically impossible to walk around the scene of the crime. I grabbed Pearl's hand as we entered the building, trying to keep her from getting lost in a sea of taller people rushing around the building.

When I finally saw Gumshoe, he looked as if he was about to collapse in exhaustion. He panted, "You're... HERE! It's been longer than an hour, pal! Now, listen! We can't find any evidence that leads to a suspect for murder..." He held up his hand and pinched his index finger into his thumb; "I'm _this_ close to calling it quits, pal! They won't even let me take a lunch break!"

"Calm down, Gumshoe! Who was it? What happened?" I questioned, scanning the hectic room.

"Jeff Turner, one of the detectives working on Mr. Edgeworth's case."

"Edgeworth has a case?! You mean, to figure out what happened to him?"

"It's top secret-- I'll have to tell you about it later. Anyway, according to this letter right here," Gumshoe pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper, "Jeff Turner chose death last night at this very police station."

I grabbed the paper from him.

_I must do this. To protect her._

_Sincerely,_

_Jeff Turner_

It was definitely a man's handwriting, that's for sure. And it was definitely to-the-point. "Who was he protecting, do you know?" I asked.

"Beats me! Like I said, pal... the chances of solving this mystery are as good as none."

"... Strange," Maya added, "That it was a guy working on a case for Mr. Edgeworth. Didn't Edgeworth write a weird letter, too?"

"Yeah. What's weirder is that it wasn't just any guy working on the case. One of the main detectives! I'm stumped. Who's the 'her' he's trying to protect! Why _now_? And why the hell can't I have a break for _lunch_!?" Gumshoe pouted. He was clearly losing it. Pearl hid behind me as she watched Gumshoe's ridiculous descent into insanity.

"Have you seen Franziska anywhere?" I asked abruptly, interrupting Gumshoe's mental breakdown. "She should be here, shouldn't she?"

"She's over there," Gumshoe pointed to a corner of the room, "but she's not speaking to anyone. She was apparently pretty close to Turner..."

"What!? When would she ever even have the chance to meet him?"

"The investigation on Mr. Edgeworth, of course."

"Oh. Right."

Gumshoe leaned in, saying quietly to me, "Listen, pal, there's something I gotta talk to you about!... Privately."

I raised an eyebrow in doubt, but I figured I would humor the guy. He was having a pretty rough day, after all. I turned to Maya and Pearl, and said quietly, "Gumshoe and I have to talk about something. So..."

"So...?" Maya didn't seem to get the idea that I was trying to get her to leave.

"So, Mr. Nick wants us to leave," Pearl clarified. "Is that right?"

"Not that I _want_ you to leave... but I don't really have a choice here," I nodded.

Maya grabbed Pearl's hand quickly. "First eavesdropping, now telling us we can't be around... you're pushing it, Nick!"

I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. She turned around and walked away, dragging Pearl along behind her, too quickly for me to gauge her response. I wanted to run after her, but I was already being dragged by Gumshoe to a secluded corner of the room.

"So, about this Edgeworth investigation," he started, completely unaware of the fact that my assistant had just stormed off, "I didn't want to leave you out of the loop. But you gotta keep this between you and me, pal. I can't stress that enough! My salary's already bare bones; if they find out I told you..."

I tried to look over the many heads that were blocking my view of Maya and Pearl leaving the building. I sighed patronizingly, "Your secret's safe with me. So what's up with the investigation?"

"Well, we're treating it like any normal disappearing act-- finding out why he might have disappeared, and _where_ he could've disappeared to. That second part is what's been holding the investigation back... we don't have anything that would give us the _slightest_ hint of where Mr. Edgeworth could be. But I have a theory."

"And that theory is...?" I struggled to picture Gumshoe thinking of anything brilliant enough to prove where Edgeworth was.

"We raid Franziska's office tonight, pal!" he whispered loudly.

"What the-- why her office?"

"It _was_ his office, you know."

"Was it? Well... in that case..." I thought about Maya. "Ugh. I don't think I can leave Maya and Pearl alone today, though-- can't we do this tomorrow?"

"Please, pal! This is important stuff! You're the only one I trust with this sort of thing! And it's now or never!"

"Now or never? Really?" I paused to think about whether I would stay or not.

I wanted to be at the beach. I wanted to apologize to Maya for eavesdropping and rudely telling her she couldn't be around. I made a mental note to myself: _Once you find Edgeworth, make him PAY for all the time you spent looking for him..._

Gumshoe didn't give me time to think. "Thanks so much, pal! Man, this is crazy. Okay, so the first thing we're gonna do is..."

* * *

Has it been more than a month since I've updated? Sorry... I was on vacation for two weeks and I've been studying like crazy lately. I promise this starts getting interesting by next chapter...


	4. Chapter 4

I finished writing the majority of this chapter literally 5 minutes ago, after getting home from my grandpa's funeral. If you've read my other story, Yesterday, let's just say my current state of emotion is pretty similar to Edgeworth's in chapter 6 and 7.

So... no romancing in this chapter. But the plot thickens! And to make up for the lack of love in this chapter, the next one will be a cuteness (and cheesiness) overload. I promise.

Here's a question: Is this story worth continuing?

* * *

"Mr. Wright! Is the coast clear?"

I looked around. The coast was most definitely clear-- the prosecutor's office was devoid of any life, aside from Gumshoe and myself. "All clear," I replied.

"Great! Now help me with this..." Gumshoe pulled out a crowbar, and positioned his arms to start hacking away at the door.

"What the hell!?"

"The door's locked. It's the only way, pal."

I shook my head in pity. Pushing the detective aside, I mumbled, "That's never going to work. Besides, aren't we trying to be stealth about this whole 'breaking in' thing? There's no way someone's _not_ going to notice if you bang at the door like that."

Gumshoe sniffed in disappointment as I tore the crowbar away from him.

I asked, "Do you have a paper clip?"

He stole one off the receptionist's desk across the room. "Here you go, sir!" He said, handing it to me like a loyal dog. I bent down and got to work, unbending the metal to fit inside the lock.

"You can pick locks?!" the detective asked in amazement, like a boy watching his father in awe.

_Sometimes I wonder..._

"Well, it's not _that_ hard... I mean, I've never done it before. But all you have to do is move the paper clip around in there until you hear a--"

_**Click!**_

"--A click," I stood up proudly. "Why don't _you_ open the door... I'm sure your prints are already all over that doorknob."

"Good thinking, pal," Gumshoe nodded, and carefully opened the door.

I took one step inside, and immediately noticed a sharp contrast of the office I was used to opening the door to every day.

Everything was so eerily well-organized. There wasn't a book out of place on her expensive-looking shelves. The ornate desk was completely bare, except for an antique lamp, a phone, and some sort of crystal paperweight. The enormous window in the center of the room provided a fantastic view of the lake across the street. The full moon shone brightly over the water, and reflected on it to create a shadowy-- yet sufficiently bright --glow in the office.

"Well, this is it-- the office of Franziska Von Karma!" Gumshoe exclaimed. I nodded, acknowledging that obvious fact. He added cheerfully, "Enjoy it while you can-- we could be arrested at any minute!"

"That's not the type of thing to say when you're trying to...! Whatever. Let's just find what we need and get out of here. Turn on the lights, please."

"No way, pal! It adds to the drama of the situation... Besides, the lights would make us even more likely to get caught in here."

"Okay... then, let's just find what we need, as I said before."

Gumshoe looked at me blankly, then mumbled stupidly, "What is it we're looking for, exactly?"

"This was _your_ idea!" I reminded him. "We're looking for something that will tell us where Edgeworth is."

"Right, pal. What if we search her drawers?"

"They're probably locked..."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Gumshoe said as he produced a shiny little key from deep inside his pocket, "I search through Franziska's drawers almost every day."

_Ha..._

I raised an eyebrow in doubt. "Her... _drawers_? Every day? _Really_?"

"Sometimes more than once a day," he corrected me nonchalantly.

I laughed immaturely as I listened to Gumshoe elaborate on his drawer-searching adventures. He didn't even realize that every single word he said was misconstrued by my sick mind into an innuendo.

"Actually," Gumshoe explained as he clumsily tried to jam the key in one of the drawer's locks, "She lets me go through them a lot. I guess I'm finally warming up to her!... Well, except for the past couple of weeks. She got mad at me because she thought I was snooping on her one day. So now her drawers are off-limits, pal."

I stopped laughing. My lip quivered in disgust as I tried to block out a scarring mental picture; "Just... stop."

"Too late. Drawer's already open! Now let's see... Edgeworth, Edgeworth..." Gumshoe dug up stacks of papers and threw them across the floor. "Hmm... none of this stuff looks important at all."

I sat down on the floor next to him, sifting through the hundreds of papers that sat in front of me. They all seemed to be more like Franziska's personal papers than case files and court records. There was a postcard-size notification that she'd needed to schedule a dentist appointment last year, and a few thank-you cards from clients.

There was a letter inside a blue envelope... but the seal had been broken. I picked it up and took a look at what was inside-- it was a letter from her father.

_Franziska Von Karma,_

_It seems as though the law has won... I am being sentenced to death. The perfect Von Karma record has been shattered._

_I pray that you can redeem our family's name._

_Manfred Von Karma_

Before I could process what I'd just read, Gumshoe snatched a photo from the pile and held it up. He yelled, interrupting my train of thought, "Take a look at this, pal!"

I looked over Gumshoe's shoulder at the picture.

"The Von Karma family portrait!" he sighed. "Such beautiful kids..."

"I'm not sure 'beautiful' is how I would've put it..."

Franziska must've been five years old in the photo, and even then, she looked professional. Not a strand of hair was out of place in her two pigtails, and her pink knee socks naturally matched her poofy pink dress. Her wide five-year-old eyes were staring directly at me.

Also in the photo was Edgeworth, who had to have been about thirteen years old... and going through an awkward phase. The skinny legs under his magenta shorts were in desperate need of some sun. His hair partially covered his brown eyes. His thin smile was barely what one would consider "happy".

Manfred loomed above the two children, grinning arrogantly. I shuddered.

Something was written on the back of the photo.

_Franziska-- never lose sight of what is truly important in life. I think you know what that is. --Manfred_

"What's this guy's deal?" I asked, slightly disturbed by all the creepy messages.

"What's really important in life... is he talking about family? That's sort of sweet!"

"Pfft. I doubt it," I sighed, shuffling the papers around on the floor, hoping that something would jump out at me as decisive evidence.

"Huh," Gumshoe remarked out of nowhere, "Take a look at this!"

I grabbed the piece of paper Gumshoe was holding from his hand. Skimming what was on the page, I concluded, "It's some sort of online receipt for a plane ticket to... Chicago. Only one way."

"Franziska's never been to Chicago," Gumshoe pointed out. "And even if she had gone, she would get a round-trip ticket... right?"

"Yeah... that's strange."

Gumshoe looked at the page one more time, but shook his head. "But if this is the only thing we can find that could _possibly_ help us find Mr. Edgeworth, we're out of luck."

"Try one of the other drawers," I suggested. "This can't be it."

"All right, pal!" Gumshoe got up from his kneeling position and unlocked the bottom drawer of Franziska's desk. "I've actually never opened this drawer. Franziska tells me it's off-limits..."

I finished what Gumshoe was thinking; "... Meaning this drawer should have everything we're looking for in it!"

He pulled out a stack of files and papers at least a foot high, and spread them across the floor. Each file was marked by a red sticker.

"These don't look like normal case files," Gumshoe observed. "Every case file at the prosecutor's office has a blue label indicating the case name, date... stuff like that. What's with the red stickers? This file right here," he pointed to the biggest file out of the spread, "looks pretty suspicious to me."

I pulled the file close to me, and opened it.

The first page was a cryptic letter to someone anonymous, from someone anonymous.

_To our trusted client,_

_The persons you have requested for removal are all within our reach. To guarantee success of our services, we ask that you notify us 36 hours in advance from when you would like each person removed._

_This notice also confirms your request to have your daughter continue overseeing removal operations after your death. Once you cease to exist, Franziska Von Karma will inherit your position as our client._

_We are most certainly proud to call someone of your status one of our clients. We thank you for your continued use of our services._

"What sort of services are they talking about? _Removal_?" I was puzzled.

"Look at that logo on the bottom of the page," Gumshoe gasped. "I don't believe it..."

A small, pink shell was printed on the bottom of the page. "De Killer? The guy responsible for the assassination of Juan Corrida a couple years ago?"

"The one and only, pal..."

"_What the hell_?!" We screamed simultaneously.

The letter was dated almost three years ago. "So... someone was planning to kill someone three years ago? Multiple people, according to this letter... no way. Who would've done that? Franziska wasn't even in the country at that time."

"What else is in that file? I gotta know!"

I flipped to the next page.

It was a letter to Franziska... from... _me_.

_... It pains me to say this, Franziska, but I realized I'm not half as quick-witted as everyone seems to think I am. I can't even defend a single person without bluffing... therefore, this is the end!..._

"You have got to be kidding me. This is the stupidest thing I've ever read," I shouted. Gumshoe looked at me doubtfully, and I defended myself by insisting, "I would never say that! I didn't write this!"

_... I've never been successful at anything in life. Love, friendship, defending... I must be the most worthless creature in the world. Perhaps I'll be successful in ending my burdensome presence in your life..._

"This is completely ridiculous," my voice wavered as I continued to read the letter.

"Look at that next page! It's from the judge!"

My stomach was suddenly in knots. Out of nowhere, I felt absolutely sick. "You're gonna have to finish going through that folder. I don't like where this is going..."

Gumshoe, just as disturbed-- and puzzled --as I was, flipped through the next couple pages of the file.

Similar letters were written from Winston Payne, the Judge, Maya Fey, and Dick Gumshoe.

"These aren't... forged suicide notes, are they?"

Each letter was written with the same handwriting. There couldn't be another explanation.

"Yeah. Badly forged suicide notes..."

"None of us have died yet!"

"Yeah, but look at this," Gumshoe turned to the final page of the folder. "This is a list... and look who's been crossed out." He began reading aloud;

_1. Bruce Goodman_

_2. Jeff Turner_

_3. Winston Payne_

_4. Maya Fey_

_5. Phoenix Wright_

_6. Dick Gumshoe--_

"Stop!" I interrupted Gumshoe's reading. "I don't want to hear that..."

"Bruce Goodman was killed a few years ago, and look... he's crossed out! And Jeff Turner's crossed out, too!"

"There's gotta be a connection between the Von Karmas and Jeff Turner. Why would he be number two on the list if all he was... was a simple detective?!" I felt nauseous. Interrupting my own train of thought, I moaned, "They were gonna kill Maya before me... why?"

"You know, it all makes sense now, pal!" Gumshoe said after a while, "Why she wouldn't let me go through her drawers anymore! Ms. Von Karma thought I was looking at _this_ stuff... all because of that one time."

"What one time?"

"Well, a couple weeks ago, I was cleaning things up in Franziska's office, right?"

I laughed lightly, imagining Gumshoe as Franziska's maid, tidying up the office... then sighing, knowing how real that imagination was.

Gumshoe continued, "I accidentally pressed a button on Franziska's phone over there while I was dusting. And someone left a really weird voicemail."

"What'd it say?" I was suddenly interested.

"It was from Jeff Turner, actually."

"... And?"

"You know... it's saved on her answering machine. We could just listen to it."

I growled, "Why didn't we do that in the first place, Gumshoe!?"

He apologized as he got up, scurrying over to the desk to replay the message. With the click of a button, the deep, friendly-sounding voice of a man filled the room.

_"Ms. Von Karma... Franziska, hi. It's Jeff. I just wanted to tell you what a wonderful time I had Friday night--"_

"What?! Franziska and this guy went out!?" I cried out in revelation. Gumshoe shushed me before I could say anything else.

_"It was truly my pleasure to be in your company. You know, I've never met someone as fascinating as you, I don't think..."_

"What was that sound?" Gumshoe asked, interrupting the message.

Footsteps echoed throughout the hall outside.

"Shit!" I whispered hoarsely, grabbing onto the sides of the desk in fear. "What if it's Franziska!?"

_"So intent on keeping your father's will that his motivations become YOUR motivations! Inspiring! It's not every day you see a young woman LIVING to finish what her father had started. I knew your father, you know... he mentored me during my first few investigations."_

"Hide the files! Hide the files!" Gumshoe whisper-yelled back, throwing a folder at my face and causing its entire contents to fly out. I cringed, dropping to the ground to quickly pick up a few of the important papers. Almost every paper was put in the wrong file, but I was too scared to worry about fixing that.

The footsteps could be heard steadily outside the door.

_"... And I know it must not be easy, having to live out your father's dreams... considering the man he turned out to be, and all... but you pull it off so well, Franziska."_

"Shut the voicemail off!" I choked.

"Not enough time!" Gumshoe responded, scrambling around the room to find somewhere to hide.

The detective and I held our breaths, anticipating someone to walk into the room at any moment and arrest us. The footsteps grew louder, and I could hear them heading for our office.

_"I'd love to spend a little more time with you, Franziska. I'm not sure why, but I'm completely drawn to you--! Sorry, I'm pretty awkward on the phone..."_

The doorknob jiggled a little as someone tried to shove a key in it. I shut my eyes, waiting for the oncoming horror. It was as if we were part of a suspenseful murder movie and were about to be killed by some overly-dramatic psychopath. Or worse... Franziska Von Karma.

_Now's not the time to be thinking those kinds of thoughts, Phoenix!_

Darkness engulfed me as I pressed my back against the dark wood of the desk, desperate for some sort of protection.

_Please, God, let me live through th--_

Someone suddenly grabbed my hand.

I screamed bloody murder.

"AHHH!"

"SORRY!" Gumshoe yelled back.

I regained composure, and stole my hand from the detective in disgust. "You can't scare me like that... _pal_!"

The doorknob jiggled yet again. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand again and squeezed it tightly. With a click, the door opened.

"Hello," a dark shadow said as it creeped into the room.

_"Say the word, Franziska, and I'll be there. Anything you need. And I truly mean that."_

"... Hi?" I squeaked.

_"Well, I guess that's it... bye!"_

The answering machine beeped loudly, signaling the end of the message. I nearly died from the horror of it all.

"Who are you? And isn't it a little late to be sneaking around like that?"

"Late? Uh... I thought it was pretty early, myself..." I failed to stammer out a sensible answer as I got out from under the desk.

"I'm sorry," the mystery man emerged from the shadows. He wore a navy jumpsuit and dragged a vaccuum into the room with him. "I must get to cleaning this room, or Ms. Von Karma will be furious!"

Gumshoe followed my lead cautiously, eyeing the man with the vaccuum.

"Should we be leaving?" I asked.

"Mmm, yes, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. For your own safety... heh," the man said demonically.

"You hear that, Gumshoe? Let's get out of here!" I ran to the door with abandon, holding it open for the detective to run with me.

"Gotcha, pal!" Gumshoe followed my lead, picking up the folder and stuffing it inside his trench coat. "Well, good night," he waved to the janitor casually, and followed me out the door.

"What makes you think anything about this night will be good?" The moon lit up the man's evil, sparkling grin.

I stopped in mid-step. "What the--?"

"Judging by the way you two are sneaking around causing trouble, I'd say this is going to be an awful night..."

My heart skipped a beat.

"I'm sorry. W-We have to get going," I stuttered, my voice trembling.

I walked briskly out of the office, down a few flights of stairs, and onto the street outside. Gumshoe panted as he tried to keep up. "What are you doing!? We have all night!"

"Something wasn't right about that guy... What was his problem?!"

"That guy's always at the office. Always being really creepy, too!"

"There's no way," I growled, increasing my pace, "No way that could've been a normal janitor."

"Slow down! I can't keep up!" Gumshoe gasped as he tried to keep up with my steady stride. "What you need to be worrying about is _this folder_, not that janitor!" He waved the file in my face.

I grabbed the entire file from him, refusing to reduce my speed. I said nothing more until we reached my apartment complex.

As we did, I came to a halt. Gumshoe, who was practically having a heart attack at that point, panted, "Pal, you gotta swear... you're never gonna... make me run... like that again!"

"I can't promise that."

"Well, then... at least... at least tell me what you find out about this whole thing... tomorrow!"

"Will do."

Gumshoe held out his right hand to shake mine goodbye.

I looked down at his outstretched hand, and took it warmly.

"I was gonna try to hold your hand, for old time's sake," he joked, "But I guess this will do, pal."

"We're just gonna pretend that entire hand-holding incident never happened. See you tomorrow," I smiled.

The detective began walking in the other direction. I sighed, and ran the rest of the way up to the apartment, hugging the massive folder against my chest.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm sorry this chapter is SO long and SO unbelievably cheesy.

If you didn't notice, I put this chapter up and then took it back down... I just can't settle on what I want from this chapter. I hope you like it... flame me if necessary. HAHA.

By the way, in case you were wondering, the song Phoenix listens to is "Here, There, And Everywhere"... ooh, what a coincidence!

* * *

_I must do this. To protect her._

My mind flashed back to the crime scene-- the police station where Jeff Turner had, apparently, taken his own life. Gumshoe gave me that note... as it turns out, that crumpled scrap of paper proved to be a vital piece of information. I could barely make out the words scribbled onto the slip of paper-- it was a joke of a suicide note, and yet, it made perfect sense. Clearly, he killed himself to protect Franziska Von Karma from some sort of trouble. Something was strange, though--

It was written in a man's chicken-scratch handwriting, unlike all the other notes I'd seen. If Franziska had planned Turner's death, why wouldn't that note be in the same handwriting as all the other suicide notes?

...And, why would she date a man she intended to kill in the first place?

I raced up the three flights of stairs it took to get to the apartment. What I needed most at that point was a good sleep. Or, at least, a good few hours worth of laying awake in bed to think over what had just happened.

As I ran down the final stretch of hallway towards my apartment door, I heard something-- footsteps behind me. I kept running, figuring it was one of the neighbors.

I fumbled with the key in my back pocket, hurriedly trying to open the apartment door.

The footsteps grew closer, and finally I heard a familiar voice; "Phoenix Wright?"

My heart skipped a beat as I came to a sudden halt. I called out meekly, "Hello?"

The voice echoed again, "Phoenix Wright...? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Hello?" I said a little louder into the dark corridor. It was more of a cry for help than a response to whoever was calling my name...

"There you are," the voice sighed.

I turned around.

Although I knew it was her voice calling out to me, nothing could prepare me for actually seeing her, watching her eye the suspicious-looking file I hugged to my chest... "Franziska!"

Panicking, I folded my arms across the folder, trying to shield it from her sight. "H-Hi! Uh... you've been looking everywhere... for _me_?"

Her fingers, folded across her chest, tapped ominously against her coat. Her face, lit only by the gray glow of the dim lights on the wall, was clearly irritated. "I'm disappointed in you, Phoenix Wright."

My heart practically stopped. I choked, "W-why?!"

"I can't believe you wouldn't tell me that Scruffy detective's plan to sabotage my career!"

_Shit--!_

She had to have been at the office. There wasn't any other way she could've known so quickly that we'd broken in...

"W-What happened?" I played dumb.

"Oh, don't tell me you don't know," she eyed me suspiciously, "the fool broke into my office approximately two hours ago, and left quite a mess. I'm sure he must have told you about this plan when you were at the police station today."

"Wait, how did you know I was at the--?"

"I know many things, Phoenix. I'm not as foolish as you might like to believe... I digress. The detective broke in, went through my private drawers, and stole something _vital_ to the future of my career. A file, to be exact. I can't disclose any information regarding the matter-- just know that I depend heavily on that file while... doing business," she chose her words carefully. She was clearly upset; her voice trembled as she uttered, "My father's last gift to me before he..."

_That file was his parting gift? A file with a bunch of forged suicide notes hidden inside it? Some father..._

"I'm... sorry," I looked away, praying she wouldn't see the manila folder I held tighly across my chest.

"So I'm just disappointed," Franziska continued, her voice still wavering, "that you didn't tell me about his little conspiracy, if you knew about it."

"I--! I had no idea--"

She gasped, glaring at me in disgust. She whispered ferociously, "Don't tell me that, Phoenix... Phoenix Wright."

I bit my lip. "Sorry, I--"

"Oh, no need to be sorry. _Sorry_ is such a foolish word... it is often said in vain." I gave her a puzzled look, and she explained slowly and quietly, "If you were sorry, you would tell me what else you know."

"I... uh," I couldn't speak. I stood there, my knees shaking together in absolute dread, my eyes pleading with Franziska's, begging for mercy.

"It's all right... Phoenix Wright. I'm not after you. I'm after that foolish, scruffy detective," she comforted me nonchalantly, taking a step closer to me. "I just received word of his little break-in. I figured coming to you provide me with the most reliable information on the matter."

My face bright red with anxiety, I squawked, "How do you know I would have information!?"

"I... just had a feeling. That's all. Don't you trust me?"

"I... well, uh, I did, until you said that just now," I pointed out uncomfortably. My sweaty fingers were starting to stick to the folder.

"Why are you so nervous?" she purred. "Friends don't hide things from friends, do they?"

I shook my head like an obedient little boy to his mother. My hands were sweating, keeping the file poorly hidden inside my jacket. My mind was racing-- how could she have known? As if she had followed me home from her _office_, and had known it was me who broke in as soon as I picked that damned lock...

"Right," Franziska continued professionally, "Then it shouldn't be a problem to tell me what you know. There couldn't be something _worse_ than breaking into my office... could there?"

"... I can't say," I gulped.

"Oh," Franziska replied shortly. "Well, how about this: you tell me what you know, or I ask to see what you're hiding in your foolish hands, there."

"Huh!?"

"Why don't you show me what you're hiding in your jacket, there, Phoenix Wright?"

I choked, completely dumbfounded (not to mention mortified) by the entire situation, "It's nothing."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is there something I should know? About where you were a few hours ago?"

"No! Nothing! I was just... working... at the office... I mean, the Wright & Co. law offices..."

Franziska growled suddenly. Her eyes sparkled with anger as she scowled, "Then why were your fingerprints on my desk!?"

_What the--!_

Time stopped. I dropped the folder I clutched against my chest out of pure shock. Franziska's papers fluttered to the ground at an agonizingly slow speed... I watched them fall onto the floor, where their contents could easily be seen, in horror.

Franziska looked down at the folder, and the pages spilled all over the ground-- then back at me. I gasped, holding my breath as her eyes inched upwards to meet mine.

Taking a few steps toward me, she whispered doubtfully, "This is surely a case file... from the Wright & Co. Law Offices, I presume?"

"Huh?" I squeaked.

"Why don't we just have a look at what's in here?"

"Uh, I don't know about that--!"

She glared at me wildly, "I wasn't really looking for your approval, Phoenix Wright."

I nodded, petrified as Franziska bent down to see what was in that folder.

She took a look at the first page, and couldn't hide her anger. Clenching her teeth, she flipped through the next few pages... she looked through the letters and the list as I wrung my hands together.

I cowered in fear, waiting for her to pull out a gun and shoot me before I could escape. After all, that's what happened to Jeff Turner!

Franziska took a deep breath after looking through each page, purposely trying to bring me to a complete state of panic.

But she didn't pull out a gun. Instead, she smiled earnestly at me, saying coyly, "Well, Phoenix Wright, I'm flattered. A little angry, but flattered, nonetheless."

I choked, "What?"

"I didn't know you were so... _interested_ in me."

_"Interested"?_

"I'm... not--"

"Oh, you aren't?" She raised an eyebrow, stepping towards me. "Don't play that game with me... Phoenix-- it's all right for me to call you Phoenix, isn't it?"

"Um..."

"It's awfully sweet that you would try to learn as much about me as you possibly can. You must be the kind of man who goes crazy if his girl is keeping something from him, am I correct?"

I said nothing.

"Of course I'm correct," she answered herself.

I bargained abruptly, "You know, I didn't take that file--"

"Oh, Phoenix," Franziska giggled, "Let's be truthful, all right? Because we both know what I am capable of doing to people who get in my way..."

She carefully revealed a small object from inside her coat pocket. I shut my eyes, trying to remain calm-- but my attempt to remain calm failed once I felt something prodding into my chest...

I didn't even have to look to figure out what was going on.

I froze, and let a quiet cry escape through my gaping mouth.

"Don't we, Phoenix? Those who get in the way simply... _bite the bullet_."

I choked for air, whispering, "You're not going to... are you?"

She pushed her weapon further into my chest-- but suddenly, she dropped it to the ground.

"No, of course not," she stated nonchalantly, "Not when I see how much _interest_ you've shown in me... I can really use this for my benefit, you know. I can't foolishly dispose of you... just yet."

I looked away angrily. Gaining confidence after surviving her death threat, I said, "You're not going to get me to do anything for you... I'm not like you."

"Actually, Phoenix, we're a lot alike," she touched my shoulder affectionately, clearly patronizing me in a way I was too scared to fight off. "Both striving for perfection, and both hurt by the loss of someone dear..."

_What the hell is she talking about?_

"... I don't know about that," I politely took a few steps back-- cornering myself into the front door of the apartment, unintentionally ensuring my doom.

She followed me, pushing me against the door, "... Both searching for someone we can relate to."

"I already have that someone," I mumbled hurriedly, refusing to make eye contact with the young woman. "Uh... Maya Fey."

"Maya Fey? That _girl_? No wonder you are so naive... you associate with _children_."

"You're the same age as she is!"

"... That must be one of your horrible lies. --You know, Phoenix... you and I could work perfectly together-- your interest in my history worries me, but... then again, I don't have a problem with my man being infatuated with me," her hand crept from my shoulder to the back of my neck. I cringed, raising my shoulders up tensely. I glanced down into her eyes, which met mine dangerously. Looking down at the gun, she added, "You can either exist under my rule... or cease to exist."

She looked up and held my gaze intently, paralyzing my every muscle. As she leaned in closer, she whispered on my neck with a laugh, "And I'll even keep your office-trashing secrets safe with me!"

I caught my breath as she moved in, positioning her lips only a few inches apart from mine. My eyes frantically searched the hall for someone-- anyone --to walk by and distract Franziska from what she was about to do.

But of course, the hallway was eerily quiet. The orange glow of the lights cast an evil shadow over Franziska's face, and the silence engulfed us. The only thing I could hear was the faint sound of Franziska's breathing on my lips.

"Consider this kiss a contract between you and me," she said, "I'll humor your interest in me... as long as you play by my rules."

A terrible thought entered my head-- I imagined Maya opening the apartment door, only to find me kissing Franziska Von Karma. That thought paralyzed me even further.

I whispered, "I'm not interested... and besides, I can't--"

With one last icy stare, she growled, "I can."

I opened my mouth to make a final protest, but in one swift motion she pulled me in. Her lips pressed firmly against mine for a moment that passed by in what felt like hours.

I trembled uncontrollably as I tried to break away, stammering, "I can't... I-I... can't--!"

"What, Phoenix... first, you want to know everything about me, and now, you're shying away? How foolish..."

Turning my face away, I argued, "I'm not shying away--"

"You stole the file, and now, you're mine," Franziska explained quietly. "I just hope your little _girlfriend_ isn't around to see this..."

"Maya!"

I couldn't let her see what was happening on the other side of our front door, and yet, I was frozen in place, my lips open and voluntarily taking Franziska's kiss. My eyes were shut tightly, trying to fight back the emotions boiling in the pit of my stomach...

Franziska had me pressed against the door. I twisted open the doorknob and stumbled backwards, trying to escape from her grip around my neck. The lights in the living room were dim. I could barely make out (no pun intended) our shadow on the wall. She laughed to herself as her lips constricted around mine, which trembled fervently. "Phoenix," she breathed teasingly, "Looks like you _can_ after all."

Her cold fingers stroked the back of my head, sending a chill down my spine that can only be described as horrifyingly unpleasant. She laughed inbetween breaths, watching me try to fight off her kiss with my lips wide open. Finally, she released me from her grip, taking her fingers off me. My lips burned with embarrassment.

I heard a tiny voice in the back of my mind, whispering, "Nick..."

I knew who it was-- and my embarrassment suddenly turned to panic once again. Without thinking, I yelled out, "Franziska, not now--!"

"Oh, no. Right now!" Suddenly, the freezing touch of Franziska's fingers reappeared traveling up the back of my shirt.

Desperate to end the charade, I yanked her hands off my shirt. She stumbled, and grabbed onto my collar for support. Before I could pull my shirt away again, we were _both_ on the floor-- and I, now shirtless, lay on top of Franziska in a way that, if someone were to see my body's position against hers, would be horribly misinterpreted...

We panted simultaneously, staring at each other with identical passionate, fierce expressions across our faces.

After a second of realization, I sprang from my position straddling her and grabbed my shirt from off the floor hurriedly.

Franziska was amused by the situation. With a seductive giggle, she said, "Well, Phoenix Wright... You're certainly the first boy to pin me down this quickly."

Buttoning only half of my shirt together, I mumbled awkwardly, "Yeah, well..."

The tiny voice in the back of the room said again, this time with a little anger and disappointment, "Nick...!"

My heart immediately sank. I'd forgotten--

Wrapped in her favorite Pink Samurai throw blanket, standing passively in the corner of the living room was...

"Maya!" I cried, asking the worst question I could've possibly asked at that time, "Are you okay!?"

My mood had suddenly went from angry and panicked, to _horrified_ and panicked. I buttoned the rest of my shirt and stumbled to my feet.

Maya let out a sob as a tear streamed down her face. Her messy hair covered her eyes, and stuck to her moist cheeks. She responded angrily, "Does it look like it?"

Franziska, clearly ecstatic by what was happening, stood up. She wrapped her arms around my waist and cooed, "It looks like Maya Fey can't handle the truth about you and I. Maya Fey, it seems as though your Phoenix is extremely interested in me..."

I pushed her away-- this time, she didn't grab my collar as she fell against the wall. I rushed over to Maya's side, but she threw down the blanket and ran past me before I could touch her. Arms outstretched, I pleaded stupidly, "Maya... I know I was just... but, I mean, I can explain!"

"No," she sniffed as she headed for the door, wiping her eyes. "I already see what's going on... and I heard it going on outside the door." She paused, then added sarcastically through her tears, "I don't need to be torn up over someone who can't even be respectful enough to let me know when I'm _wasting my time_."

I came up from behind her, grabbing her by the shoulders. Trying to lean into her ear, I asked, "What's been a waste of time?"

Maya sighed, "Thinking that you and I... were... never mind."

I begged, "You and I!? You aren't wasting your time! You don't understand... please? Can we talk?"

She shrugged her shoulders away from my hands. Without turning around to look at me, she said sarcastically, "Why would I speak to someone who is just... using me?"

"Using you!? Why would you ever accuse me of using you!?" I retorted. I guess it was my pent-up emotion speaking-- without thinking, I fought back, "You're the one staying in _my_ apartment!"

Even Franziska had to raise an eyebrow at my stupidity.

As soon as I spoke, I immediately regretted it. Maya turned around, her mouth hanging open in absolute disgust. She wasn't crying anymore-- she looked like she was about to slap me.

Franziska allowed a laugh to escape from her mouth.

After a second, I touched Maya's shoulder again as if to apologize. I knew speaking would only make matters worse.

Maya opened her mouth, as if to start screaming at me, but she could only choke out a few pitiful words; "Not anymore, I'm not."

I couldn't follow her to the door-- my legs wouldn't move no matter how strongly I willed them to. Franziska stepped aside as Maya walked by, heading out the door. Franziska glanced over at me and smiled-- obviously entertained by the way the night was playing out. Her eyes followed in satisfaction as Maya stood in the doorway, taking a deep breath to collect herself before she left. I held out my arms hoping she would come running into them.

Before she left, Maya turned around, taking one last look around the room. She looked at Franziska, who smiled arrogantly back at her. She then looked at me furiously.

I couldn't let her leave. There had to be a reason. A reason that would make her stay... I didn't care how good of a reason it was.

I couldn't let her walk the streets alone in the middle of the night. After all, she was only wearing shorts... and one of my old t-shirts.

I mumbled, "Y-You're gonna be, um... cold..."

She blinked her eyes to fight back tears, responding bluntly, "Whatever."

As a final attempt to get her to soften up, I pleaded, "Just... wait. I'll be right back-- don't leave!"

I sprinted into my bedroom. I was looking for my coat underneath the piles of old sweatshirts I had on the floor. I checked my drawers, and finally found a suitable black pullover. I yanked it from out of the drawer, and a few pairs of socks fell out onto the floor.

Something clunked against the ground...

It was that damn box. The ring. I couldn't help but fight back a tear as I ran back into the living room, leaving the box and the ring to collect dust on the floor.

The two women in the room stared at me with impatience. I held out the black fleece in front of me nervously, my eyes pleading with Maya's. I said softly, "If you're gonna walk out, at least take this..."

Her lower lip flinched, but she blinked again, stopping herself from crying. She marched over to me, ripped the jacket from out of my hand, and threw it on as she stormed back towards the door.

"It was nice seeing you, Maya Fey," Franziska chirped condescendingly.

Maya turned around and gave Franziska and I both a deadly glare.

... With that, the front door slammed shut.

I was frozen in the middle of the living room, too overwhelmed with emotion to speak.

"Success!" Franziska cheered for herself softly, filling the silence in the room. "Maya Fey is gone!"

"Leave," I moaned, collapsing on the couch, "Just leave."

"Don't tell me what to do, Phoenix Wright," her voice suddenly took on a fierce tone. "As of right now, I'm the one controlling your life."

"How are you controlling my life?" I looked up at her wildly.

"... Well, with the incriminating evidence you conveniently provided for me. Namely, that file," she explained to me patronizingly. "And the fact that I can get rid of you any time I want."

She pointed over to her gun, which had been dropped in the doorway.

_That gun started this whole thing..._

Suddenly, I ran across the living room and lunged to grab the tiny weapon.

I'm not sure what I was thinking; I knew there was no chance in hell I'd ever be able to shoot a person... even if that person was Franziska. But I had already made a fool of myself that night, and I was pretty much numb to embarrassment at that point. I shouted, "Who's Jeff Turner!?"

"_Phoenix Wright!_ What the hell--" She honestly looked frightened.

I held the gun in my hand, aiming it in her direction.

"Don't make me!" I snarled. "I'll do it! Who is he!?"

... She paused in fear, but after I repeated myself a second time, she sighed... and laughed at me. I was holding a gun, aiming for her head, and she was _laughing_.

I got even angrier; "What the hell is so funny!? I'm serious! You killed Jeff Turner, didn't you!?"

"Go ahead," she cackled, "Shoot the gun! See what happens!" I raised an eyebrow, but she explained with a smile, "Look in the barrel."

I did-- it was empty.

"Let this be a lesson to you, Phoenix Wright. I don't give away my secrets so easily... no matter _how_ interested you are in me." She laughed to herself, then added, "By the way, your... kissing skills... could use a little work. Perhaps, after you tell me about your little rendezvous in my office, I could show you a thing or two?"

"Never..."

"Hmph... that's what _you_ think." Franziska looked around the living room one last time, then left through the front door without another word. Even after she shut the front door, I could hear her heels briskly walking down the hallway for another minute.

I was left kneeling pathetically on the floor. The silence that filled the room was going to drive me up the wall.

I looked around the room for consolation-- but everything in the room reminded me of Maya. The couch, the Blue Badger stuffed animal, the Pink Samurai throw blanket laying there, abandoned by Maya at the front door.

The worst moment was when I glanced over into the kitchen. The scrapbook I had started lay open on the table-- Maya had been looking at it before I came home... I nearly started sobbing as I imagined the scene.

Something occured to me, though, to stop the silence-- I picked up the radio that was sitting on the coffee table.

Still sitting on the floor, I fiddled with the stations until I found something suitable.

_"When you left, I lost a part of me... come back baby, please, 'cause we belong together!"_

"Shut up," I responded, quickly twisting the tuner to the next station.

_"I could stay awake, just to heaaaar you breathin'--"_

Wincing, I switched the station.

_"I'll be there for you through it all, even if savin' you sends me to heaven--"_

I'd never heard so many sappy songs in one sitting...

"One more try," I told myself. I wondered if Maya had requested all those horrible love songs, so that on the off-chance that I turn on the radio, I would have to be reminded of her.

I _wished_ she would do something as awful as that-- at least I would know that she was thinking about me (even if it meant that she was thinking about how she could possibly make me feel miserable). I'll take what I can get when it comes to being in Maya's thoughts...

One last time, I twisted the tuner. If it was another bad song, I planned on taking the nearest heavy object I could find and smashing the radio into pieces.

_"To lead a better life, I need my love to be here..."_

I shot up from my seat on the floor, and hunted down the rolling pin from in the kitchen. I sprinted back into the living room to destroy the radio as quickly as possible. I looked at my silhouette on the pale wall-- I held the rolling pin above my head maniacally; my back was hunched over the radio like an insane killer. As I looked at the strange shadow on the wall, I couldn't help but listen to the lyrics of the song playing.

I recognized the tune-- my father sang it to my mother, once. And it was from one of the records that my parents forced me to listen to in order to acquire a taste for "real" music. I hummed along:

_"Here, making each day of the year, changing my life with the wave of her hand,"_

"Nobody can deny that there's something there..." I sang quietly. My singing is horrible-- I sighed, folding my arms across my chest, miserable again.

_"I want her everywhere, and if she's beside me, I know I need never care..."_

My phone rang from inside my pants pocket. I gasped excitedly, praying that by some miracle, Maya was trying to get a hold of me...

"Hello?" I cried out as I picked up the phone. Awkwardly, I cleared my throat and tried again, this time in a much lower tone, "... Hello?"

"I am so completely _disgusted_!" a familiar voice screamed back at me. "Mystic Maya is in tears!"

"Pearls?!" I immediately got defensive. "You're with Maya?! Let me talk to Maya!"

"--And to kiss someone else _other _than your special someone... how DARE--"

"Let me explain it to Maya! Hello!? Is she there!?"

"Why would I let you explain?! You're nothing but a _liar_ anyway!"

"Pearls! Don't _you_ turn your back on me, too!" I started begging pathetically, "Please, just give me... one minute?"

Pearl sighed, and I heard her whisper something to someone next to her. After a minute, she concluded, "Mystic Maya doesn't want to talk to you."

My heart dropped. I mumbled, "I guess I should've expected that."

_"Knowing that love is to share, each one believing that love never dies..."_

Pearl breathed heavily into the phone. Someone was pouting in the background-- I figured it was Maya. I sunk lower to the floor, sprawling out on the cold wood, trying to hide myself from the shame of making the girl I love _run away_ from me.

"You should be disgusted with yourself, Mr. Nick. I never thought you could be such a cold, cruel person. Yeah, you're a _mean_ guy! I'll never let you hurt Mystic Maya again! Even if that means that you never get to see her again!"

I said nothing-- I just sighed.

"Well, Mr. Nick? Don't you have anything to _say_!?"

I thought about hanging up and calling it a night, but... I couldn't. I stuttered, "C-Could you just tell Maya... how sorry I am?"

Pearl gasped a little, and whispered something to whoever was sitting next to her.

I added, "... And that, well, I might not be able to sleep if I know she's not in the room across from mine?"

More whispering.

"She hopes you have fun staying up all night," Pearl reported bluntly.

I let a pout escape my mouth. I hadn't felt so defeated since ... well, an hour before, when I couldn't get Franziska to get off of me. Pearl obviously sensed my unease, since she relaxed her tone as she whispered, "One second, Mr. Nick--"

The radio crooned, _"But to love her is to need her everywhere."_

Pearl whispered to Maya for a minute, then came back to me. "Mystic Maya is leaving the room, so you can tell me what _really_ happened."

"If I tell you what happened, you'll just hate me..."

"And if you don't... same thing!" she pointed out impatiently. "So just tell me, Mr. Nick! She just left!"

She had a point. I turned off the radio... the song was over anyway. "It was all a mistake. This whole night... I never meant to do it... kiss Franziska Von Karma, I mean. And then I fell on top of her and I guess Maya thought... you know... well, actually, _you_ probably don't know what she thought I was doing to Franziska... you're only ten years old."

I needed to stop talking.

"Ten year olds know _plenty_ about the world! When you lay on top of somebody, it means... well, um! And anyway, why would you kiss her!? I thought..."

_Do I tell the truth?_

I was always careful with what I said around Pearl. I never wanted to scare her... although scaring her was all too easy, since she was sheltered from the outside world for the majority of her life. But I couldn't just take the blame for what had happened. Not completely. Not if explaining the situation to Pearl could help me win back Maya's love...

"I didn't have a choice. She was going to shoot me. And I was too scared to fight back... I just let it all happen. There's a long story behind why she was even at the apartment in the first place... but I don't know if I'm allowed to explain it to you." I started rambling, "Well, anyway, Maya happened to be standing right on the other side of the door, hearing everything that was going on. And then I accidentally opened the door to try to get away from Franziska, and we were still kissing, and then I fell on top of her... and Maya saw the entire thing."

Pearl whispered, petrified, "She was going to shoot you?"

"... Yeah, I guess. Except the gun didn't even have a bullet in it. She just used it to scare me." I added as an afterthought, "Which makes me feel even worse..."

"But you didn't know it was empty then, Mr. Nick... so it's not really your fault... wait," Pearl asked for clarification, "So, Franziska Von Karma has a ... crush on you?"

"No! Not at all! There's a lot more behind the story... but let's just say I know some bad things about her, and she threatened to kill me if I ever tell anyone what I know. The kiss was sort of the seal to the deal, I guess... There is no possible way she has a 'crush' on me. And I don't have one on her."

"Mr. Nick... why didn't you just tell Mystic Maya that?"

"She wouldn't give me a chance to."

Pearl paused tentatively before she asked, "Why does she have to do bad things like that?"

"Who, Franziska Von Karma?"

"Yes."

"I don't know... I'd like to find out myself. I think it has something to do with the fact that her father always strived for perfection, and she wants to keep the family tradition going."

"Couldn't she just be nice instead? And work really hard to be like her dad... except, not evil?"

"She _could_... but some people don't think like you and I do, Pearls. Some people only know how to be mean."

Pearl commented softly, "... Well, Mr. Nick, I wish the world wasn't so mean sometimes."

_Did I just hear my heart break?_

I argued half-heartedly, "W-Well, it's not all bad..." _After all, there is Maya Fey_... I heard Pearl sniffling into the receiver. "Pearls! Why are you crying?"

She sniffed back, "I wish this didn't happen... now who's going to be Mystic Maya's special someone? And," she added, now crying loudly, "What if I never get to see you again, Mr. Nick?!"

I couldn't help but pout back. Sighing in disappointment, I whispered, "Pearls... Maya _really_ doesn't want me back?"

"Not right now..."

I let out a long sigh, trying not to let my eyes start watering, trying to keep my lower lip from quivering. Pearl's crying on the other end of the conversation only made me feel worse. I uttered, "Damn it." And then I remembered I was talking to Pearl. "I mean... sorry."

"Mr. Nick?"

"Yes, Pearls?" I cleared my throat.

"Do you... _love_ Mystic Maya?"

"Huh!?" I sniffed as my heart skipped a beat.

"And I mean, do you _LOVE_ her? As in, is she your special someone you want to _marry_ someday?" Pearl whispered excitedly. She was still crying, but she didn't sound so hopeless.

I could only imagine the romantic scene playing out in her mind-- a dashing young Phoenix Wright in shining armor, riding his white steed through sleet, snow, and hail to get to the beautiful princess, Maya Fey... and upon doing so, asking for her hand in marriage.

Pearl seems to think that I'm some sort of suave, manly Prince Charming. I'm sure her opinion of me would change if I told her I'd been hiding an engagement ring in my bedroom for the past year.

"So, Mr. Nick?" Pearl interrupted my thoughts. "Do you want to _marry_ Mystic Maya?" Everytime she said the word 'marry', her voice went up in excitement.

"... Pearls, to be completely honest," I started nervously, "I've been planning on asking her to marry me for the past year now."

Pearl gasped. I could _hear_ her smile as she exclaimed, sniffing away the last of her sadness, "Mr. Niiiiick!"

Her excitement only made me want to cry even more. "I missed my chance... her birthday was my last chance." Unloading all my emotional baggage on Pearl, I started explaining, "It was the perfect plan. I was gonna give her the scrapbook, tell her how much I needed her, and then as the night was coming to a close I was gonna... gonna--"

"Mr. Nick!" Pearl interrupted me loudly. "Don't start crying now! I want to hear the _stooory_," she sighed romantically.

I tried my best. "The night was perfect. With one exception-- me. I was too scared to go through with my plans... Well, as we said goodnight, I was going to get down on one knee, and... you know. But I was such a coward. I was too scared to do _anything_ that entire night. And now look what I've done..."

"Gosh, Mr. Nick, be a man!" Pearl said. I almost started crying from the embarrassment of having a little girl tell me to grow up. "I think I have a plan."

"You do?" I sniffled.

"Mystic Maya loves homemade gifts. So, you should make her something."

"Pearls, I have no artistic abilities... or art supplies, for that matter."

"But Mystic Maya told me you used to be an art student!"

"Huh? She did?" Apparently, they talked more about me than I was aware... "Well, yeah, I was, but now all I have is a few sheets of scrapbook paper and a bunch of markers..."

"That will do. You _are_ making her a scrapbook, after all..."

I turned red, and asked doubtfully, "You really think that would work? If you get her to come back home, she would like that?"

"Once she hears what you just told me, she'll _have_ to."

I choked, suddenly hating Pearl's idea even more. "You can't tell her-- not the story! That was between you and me! You can't!"

"Why not!?"

"Because... I was going to--"

"No, you weren't! You're too chicken!"

I stuttered, shocked that Pearl would have the guts to call me a chicken, "N-No, I am NOT--"

"I'll be sure to send Maya over as soon as possible!" Pearl hung up. The dial tone was purely haunting.

Moments later, lightning struck, and it began pouring outside.

I had a scrapbook to make.

The supplies on the kitchen table were just what I needed. What I had to do was find the perfect pictures and the right words to capture their essence...

A stack of printed pictures was strewn across the table. I picked up a print of the picture Maya had taken of us on her birthday. I didn't look any further to find one less embarrassing of me-- I pasted it onto a sheet of construction paper, cutting the extra edges off with the special craft scissors, and mounting it onto a piece of scrapbook paper. I did the same for a few other pictures.

Suddenly, something occurred to me.

The scrapbook was the way... the page I was working on would be _the_ page!

I would present the scrapbook to Maya after she returned, with the new page, and when she looked into my eyes after reading what I wrote, I'd be on one knee--

It was perfect!

My hands shaking with excitement, I reached for one of the expensive markers across the table to write out a short message onto a plain white piece of paper. I scribbled the words anxiously, and cut the paper to fit on the scrapbook page.

It was a hurried effort, but it _did_ come from the heart...

All I had to do was wait for Maya to come home. My heart would be pounding until then.

_Maya Fey,_

_"I want her everywhere, and if she's beside me, I know I need never care... but to love her is to need her everywhere."_

_I've never heard truer lyrics... I don't know how else to say this. For some reason, I can't say it out loud, although I've been dying to for the past year. I should be able to say this to you comfortably, since what I feel is so strong... I'm sorry. I don't mean for this to sound so falsely dramatic. If you don't like what you read, please-- don't laugh... or at least save the laughter for after I leave the room._

_So, here goes nothing._

_I'm in love with you._

_...Phoenix_


	6. Chapter 6

Oh, wow, a new chapter-- and I honestly don't know WHAT to think about it. Actually, I don't know what to think about this entire story in general. I have a love/hate relationship with it, which is never a good sign. I already have ideas for new stories up my sleeves... one involving romance, and another involving BETRAYAL! Yeah. I'm leaning more towards the betrayal one; the more I finish writing this story, the more I realize that I'm not cut out for writing romance.

Or am I? You tell me.

Next chapter will be full of DRAMA-- get excited.

* * *

I got a second call from Pearl sometime around seven. She quickly informed me that I had better be prepared to give Maya flowers when she walked through the door. Half an hour later, I was in the middle of Gourd Lake Park, trying to find someone-- anyone --selling flowers. My old sneakers squeaked against the paved park pathway, still wet from the previous night's downpour, as I raced the clock to beat Maya home.

I couldn't help but be a little frantic-- after all, I was finally about to admit to Maya how much I loved her-- not to mention _propose_ to her, if Maya responded to my confession as well as she did in my dreams. I was literally shaking in my sneakers. As I ran through the park, one reoccurring nightmare played out in my mind-- me presenting a ring to Maya, only to be laughed at.

The path I was running on finally led me to the center of the park-- a quaint area filled with people walking their dogs, couples "fitness-walking" along the path, and a few loners feeding the birds by the fountain.

Most importantly, there was a man selling flowers.

I rushed over to his stand, pushing my way past two other men to reach the front of the line. I got more than a few dirty looks as I finally stopped shoving, grabbing my wallet out of my back pocket to make a purchase.

Before I could even look at the flowers, though, Pearl called. I had to stop the embarrassing Steel Samurai theme song from singing inside my pocket. As soon as I answered, Pearl giggled with excitement, "Now, I don't want Mystic Maya to be waiting for you while you're out getting her flowers, so you better hurry up! Oh, you MUST tell me how the rest of the morning goes! Except, I'm sure I'll get a call from Mystic Maya anyway... _Mr. Niiiiiiiiick_!"

"What, Pearls?!"

"... What are you going to say to her? Are you going to tell her how beautiful she is? Are you going to kiss her right on the spot!? Are you going to _shoot fireworks as you propose_!?"

Fumbling with a few bills from my wallet, I replied, "If I shot fireworks, the apartment would catch on fire, Pearls. Besides, it's day time."

"Oh, yeah. Well, aren't you going to answer my OTHER questions?"

"Will I tell her she's beautiful? Will I kiss her? Uhm... I don't want to act too out of character, you know. I mean, I would never give her the ring and say, you know..." I realized people were grumbling under their breath, trying to get me to move along. I hurriedly looked at the vendor, waving a few bills at him. "Take this, and let me wrap my arms around you and kiss you!"

The vendor gave me a strange look.

_Haven't you ever heard of customer service?_

"Actually, Mr. Nick, that's _soooo_ romantic!" Pearl chirped.

I smiled politely as I waited for the man to take the money from my outstretched hand, saying half-sarcastically (and rather loudly), "Ha! Yeah... you can call me Romeo."

The vendor raised an eyebrow in disgust, growling, "I'm not interested, Romeo."

I gave him a look of question, not knowing what he was talking about, until he muttered to himself, "Kiss me? What the--"

_Oh, no. I did NOT just--_

My face turned bright red as I realized-- "You thought I was talking to you!?" I hung up the phone as quickly as possible, interrupting Pearl's love advice, and apologizing all over the place to the man; "Oh, God! I'm so sorry! That wasn't... I mean... I was talking on the phone! To a girl! Not a--"

"Yeah, yeah," the man eyed me suspiciously, cracking his dry knuckles, "So..."

"Yeah... um, flowers?" I squeaked.

"... Take your pick, buddy."

There were only five bouquets I could choose from. One looked a little wilted. I tried to remember which were Maya's favorite flowers--

She said something about daisies, once. Something about how they were underappreciated.

"Got any daisies?" I inquired.

The guy gave me another funny look. "If you want daisies, you might as well go pick a few _free_ ones growing over there," he said, pointing across the park to a patch of white flowers growing in the grass. "What would you want _daisies_ for, anyway? Girls hate 'em. They _die _within hours of picking them, anyway..."

"Well, they're her favorite," I responded bluntly.

_Leave it to Maya to like the flower that every other girl hates..._

"... Huh. Your girl must be a unique one?... This is a _girl_ you're buying for, right?" He looked me up and down suspiciously once more.

I blushed involuntarily, "Yes, a girl-- uh, yeah, a girl! The most unique girl I've known!..."

I tried to defend myself further, but the vendor interrupted me. "Listen, buddy: frankly, I don't care whether you're looking to buy for a male or a female. I got customers waiting," he pointed to the two grumbling people waiting behind me, "So if you could make a choice, that would be great."

"Uhm," I took one last look at the bouquets in front of me. They were all roses. Nothing seemed like anything Maya would want.

I had to get it right this time. If I did anything wrong, anything to irritate or upset her-- well, I could basically guarantee the end of my relationship with Maya.

I sighed, "I don't think I want anything. Thanks anyway."

I frantically ran from the stand and across the park, directly to where the bed of daisies was. I couldn't flee that embarrassing scene quickly enough-- I could still feel that vendor's suspicious gaze boring into my back as I ran from him.

_"Let me kiss you!" I just HAD to say it!_

Across the park was a field that had exactly what I was looking for-- nothing but pretty, white daisies. I scanned my surroundings-- I wished Maya was there to enjoy the view with me. The last time we were at Gourd Lake, the area was off limits (due to a murder case that I'd rather not discuss). It wouldn't be hard to find a few perfect daisies among the sea of them that sprawled out across the grass. I bent down onto the ground, still wet from the morning dew, trying to find a suitable flower for Maya.

The idea of giving those flowers to her, soon before getting down on one knee and _proposing_, seemed surreal. In fact, I was practically in denial as I sifted through the tall grass.

I managed to carefully pull up several perfect daisies from the ground, and was about to get up when I heard someone running towards me. From far away, I could hear them trying to say something-- well, more like yell something at me. Such a strange, shrill voice... I couldn't help but feel a little startled as I turned around to see what was going on.

A woman with short hair sprinted towards me, screaming, "Watch out!"

"Huh?" I looked around for something to watch out for. All I saw was a cuddly little labrador playing in the grass.

Pointing ahead of me, she screamed, "I said, _watch out_! You're gonna get hurt!"

"I-- wait, what-- AUGH!"

I was pushed flat on my back by some unidentifiable force-- it knocked the wind out of me before I could even process what was going on.

_Franziska's hired an assassin! It's the end!_

I pleaded, squeezing my eyes shut, "I promise, it wasn't me!"

The assassin, of course, didn't respond. In fact, somebody was panting in my face. I couldn't help but open my eye, slightly disgusted.

That 'cuddly' labrador stood on my chest, its drool dripping off the tip of its tongue and onto my chin as it smiled innocently at me. It looked anything but ready to kill me-- at most, it was ready to lick my entire face clean. I sat up, pushing the dog off my chest quickly and wiping the drool off my face.

"Damn! I thought you were... oh, man." The dog cocked its head to the side playfully, trying its best to apologize for publicly humiliating me. I explained solemly, "Your owner might want to teach you manners. It's not polite to pin somebody down in the middle of a park, you know."

The dog pretended to listen, panting heavily and smiling as I scratched behind its ear.

"Sir, I am _so_ incredibly _sorry_! This has never happened before!"

I reluctantly turned around to see who was talking to me. Wearing her police uniform, glasses, and trademark hair pins... it was Maggey Byrde. Gumshoe's almost-lover and one of my casual acquaintances... and former clients.

One person I would never want to run into on the most stressful day of my _life_.

Maggey scolded her dog, grabbing him by the collar and fumbling with the leash to restrain him. She looked at me, and apologized, "Sir, I'm _so_ sorry! He's a police dog! He's trained to do that, I'm afraid... _Bad_ Missile, _bad_!"

I gave Maggey a weird look. I guess she didn't recognize me. "Yeah... Hi, Maggey. You might want to get control of that dog. I almost had a heart attack, there."

"Hah, sorry... wait, did you just call me--?" She looked at me again, trying to figure out who I was. Finally, it came to her as I stood up and brushed myself off; "Mr. Wright! Oh, my _goodness_, I'm SO sorry! I didn't recognize you without your blue suit!"

I looked down at what I was wearing-- yeah, I guess the blue suit is much more easy to recognize me by than my navy blue jacket and black sweatpants. "It's fine. So, what are you doing here so early?"

"Missile needs his exercise! I thought I would let him off the leash a little, since there's barely anyone here... but I guess that didn't work out so well, huh?" She looked down at Missle, who was clearly oblivious to any wrongdoing on his part. "And what are you doing here, at Gourd Lake, at eight in the morning? In your... pajamas, no less!"

"It's a long story, actually..."

"And where's your assistant, Maya Fey?"

I blushed, "Actually, that's a long story, too..."

"Is it? You know, it's weird to see you without her. You belong together!..." She spoke quietly, "And if you asked me, Mr. Wright, I'd say that you two would make a pretty cute couple."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so," I grinned, then back-tracked awkwardly, "I mean..."

"Mr. Wright!" Maggey swooned, looking down at flowers I'd dropped on the ground. "_That's_ what you're doing here!? I had no idea that you two were an item! For _how_ long has this been going on?"

"Well..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean to intrude on your personal life-- it's just that, well, you know, Dick --you know, Dick Gumshoe-- always tries to imitate the way you look at Ms. Fey. He says he doesn't do it justice; you've always got this lovestruck look on your face..."

I turned a bright red. "Do I, really?!"

"Yup!"

"Well... um..."

Maggey shuffled her feet, trying to think of a way to end my embarrassment. Something caught her eye, though-- "Mr. Wright, I think you dropped something. Here, let me--" She bent down and picked up something hidden in the grass.

I turned a brighter shade of red.

"Mr. Wright, is this what I _think_ it is?!"

Yes, it was _the_ box. I'd slipped it into my pocket for safekeeping; obviously, that was a bad choice.

I nodded, covering my red cheeks with my palm.

"I had no idea you were this serious about Maya Fey! Oh, this is _too_ sweet... Mind if I take a look inside?"

_Yes, actually. I'd appreciate it if you'd hand me that box and never speak of this again._

Without waiting for my approval, Maggey opened the small box. The diamond's sparkle reflected in her glasses as she chirped, "It's _gorgeous_! You're not asking her _today_, are you?"

"I am..." My shoulders caved in self-consciously as Maggey shrieked in excitement. I asked, "Ugh... Wish me luck, all right, Maggey?"

"Oh, of _course_! But I'm sure you won't need it. You two are perfect for each other. I mean that! I mean," Maggey couldn't contain herself as she continued, "I look at you two, and I think, _Wow, those two would make the cutest husband and wife_! Well, not really, but you know what I mean. Ah, make sure you invite me to the wedding! I'm sure Maya will make a gorgeous bride! I can see it now-- I'm sorry, how embarrassing... It was rude of me to invite myself to the wedding, wasn't it?"

_Slightly-- but you deserve a little embarrassment for publicly humiliating me._

She paused to breathe, and happened to notice my reaction of utter embarrassment. She calmed down, handing the ring back to me. "Sorry, I talk too much. I just can't believe it! Dick was right!"

"He knew?!" As if I couldn't be embarrassed any further...

"Well, he never confirmed his suspicions, but he always had a feeling you two were dating. Because you're living together, and all. He just figured you wanted to keep it on the down low, since she _is_ your assistant and all..."

_The funny thing is, we _aren't_ dating... _

"Yeah, he's right," I lied.

Maggey sighed, smiling to yourself, "Don't you just love... love?"

"What?"

"Sorry. I mean, the whole idea of it and all... it's so exciting! And frightening at the same time... I'm sure you must be ready to throw up right now, getting ready to propose to the woman you love..."

I nodded nervously, wondering how she read my mind.

"Well, don't worry! I heard somewhere... if billions of other men have done it, so can you!"

"Uhm," I was desperate to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

"So, good luck! But I'm sure you won't need it," Maggey glanced at the watch on her wrist. "Darn... it _can't_ be this late already! It's 8:30-- I have to go! I'm sorry, Mr. Wright! Tell Maya I said hello, and I hope everything works out for you!"

"Thanks... uh, same to you!"

With that, she pulled Missile away from me and sprinted towards the park exit. Missile yanked the leash away from her, chasing a squirrel until poor Maggey was practically being dragged on the ground... I waved pathetically at her, watching her tiny body being dragged into the distance until she began to blend into the scenery.

I had to get back to business.

I looked around for the three daisies I had retrieved from the grass-- I found them... petals torn off, stepped on, and mangled beyond recognition. Missile must've gotten a hold of them when he jumped on me...

_Damn it_.

I was _not_ about to look through that entire field again. I stood up, brushed myself off, and walked away from the scene before I had a mental breakdown.

_This has been a complete failure_, I lamented, shoving my fists angrily into the pocket of my sweatshirt. I began the short trek back to the apartment complex, where I would have to greet Maya... flowerless.

I only wanted the best for her... but no matter what I did, I couldn't win. I couldn't tell her how much I loved her on her birthday, I couldn't write "I love you" in syrup across her pancakes-- hell, I couldn't even pick a flower for her without it being torn apart by the claws of a _police dog_.

Worst of all, the box in the pocket of my sweatpants beat steadily against my leg... taunting me. I _had_ to remind myself to put that thing back in its rightful place: the underwear drawer. After what had just happened, I was ready to throw the damn box into _Gourd Lake_.

I was almost home-- as I turned the street corner, I couldn't think straight, I was so anxious. For all I knew, Maya would be packing up things in her room, getting ready to move out by the time I arrived.

I shuddered, shaking my head, disposing of that thought. I had to think positively.

I began practicing my proposal out loud, muttering under my breath; "Maya, I know this is kind of stupid, but--"

_No! It's not stupid-- proposing is serious! Get a hold of yourself!_

I tried again. "Maya, I can't imagine a world without you..."

_Very nice, Phoenix... for a soap opera._

Walking up the steps to the main entrace of the complex, I whispered, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you..."

_That won't work--_

I punched in the entrance code and the door of the complex opened for me.

I held the door open as a young woman walked by. She didn't look too happy-- she didn't crack a smile, and the hood of her black jacket covered half of her face.

I smiled politely, acknowledging her with a slight nod.

She paused in the doorway for a moment, then turned around.

_What's this girl's problem? I have somewhere to be!_

"Nick?"

"Huh?!"

She slowly pulled down the hood from above her head, revealing her long, black hair and round, blue eyes. Dark circles underlined her tired eyes, partly covered by her windblown bangs. I almost continued walking past her, until I saw that she was wearing my old college shirt, and her favorite lavendar pajama shorts.

"Maya!?"

_This is NOT what I planned!_

Everything I had planned to say completely escaped me at that point. I was caught off-guard-- Maya was supposed to be waiting inside the apartment; I didn't even have time to take a deep breath to calm my nerves.

Maya took a step closer to me. She said, barely audibly, "Nick?"

I looked at her, begging for mercy; she looked back at me with a look of complete exhaustion. The dark circles under her eyes were definitely evidence of her crying the night before-- now, her eyes sparkled as they tried to fight off another wave of tears.

_It's now or never, Phoenix..._

_Just admit it, already!_

I couldn't.

Silently, I threw my arms out in front of me, waiting for her to run into them for a hug.

... Well, it was better than running the other way.

Arms outstretched, I begged, "Please?"

Maya looked me up and down, pausing when our eyes met-- finally, she nodded in approval.

I threw my arms around her shoulders, embracing her with complete abandon. The black jacket that hung over her thin frame was still damp from the previous night's rain, and her body shivered in my arms-- my balance rocked slightly from side to side as I tried to subdue her shaking. Maya's wind-blown, disheveled hair scratched against my face, as my cheek found its place next to her neck.

Initially, her body tightened as soon as I put my arms around her-- but, after a moment or two (and a quick prayer that she would forgive me), I could feel her head against my chest.

I didn't even care that she could probably feel my heart pounding wildly.

_What now?_

Silence engulfed us. The street was empty of passing cars, and it seemed as though no one was on the street. The only sound I could hear was the tiny crunch of concrete as I rocked back and forth in my shoes. Time had literally stopped. I closed my eyes, nestling my cheek closer to hers. Her tangled hair stopped my cheek from making contact with hers... and so I carefully lifted my hand to tuck the stray pieces behind her ear.

As our cheeks touched, I tried not to scratch her soft skin with my slight stubble.

For a while, we stayed that way-- silent, comfortable in each other's arms.

Still, I was so anxious. I had nothing to say. I didn't know if Maya had even been in the apartment, let alone read the note I left her. I wasn't sure if Maya had forgiven me for what had happened with Franziska yet, or if she ever would. All I could do was show her, as well as I could, how much it killed me to be without her.

Maya sniffed suddenly, taking a quick breath. I retaliated, pulling my hands and cheek away from her to see what was the matter. A single tear rolled down the same cheek I had just pressed mine against.

"Maya! What's wrong?"

She replied, her voice wavering, "The book..."

"The what?"

"The new page."

_... Oh. That._

My face flushed a bright pink. "I-I'm so sorry...!"

She said nothing.

"I know it's probably the worst way I could've told you... but, after last night, I figured there was no other way..."

She still didn't respond. Another tear escaped her eye.

Becoming more nervous, I muttered, "I-- I completely understand if you don't feel the same way... I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me-- it's not like this hasn't happened before; I'm pretty good at getting over humiliation--"

"No!" Maya interrupted me. "It's... not like that, Nick."

_It's NOT!?_

"T-Then... why are you crying?"

"Because... because--" she cracked a smile through her tears, trying to figure out why. I guess she was just as baffled as I was.

_Please, don't say it's because I didn't bring flowers--_

After a moment, she laughed quietly to herself-- realizing that I was willing to do anything to earn her love again. She smirked mischeviously through her tears, glancing up at me with a painfully pitiful look on her face, "It must be because I'm s-so c-cold... after spending half of last night out in the freezing rain, trying to figure out ways to get _revenge_ on you..."

"You were!?" My eyes lit up hopefully as I tried to restrain the ecstatic grin tugging at my lips-- as pathetic as it sounds, I was more than happy to be the subject of Maya's revenge. "I mean... Last night, I mean, I can explain..."

"... Honestly, Nick, I thought I would never speak to you again."

I looked at her, pleading to be forgiven.

Maya finally finished her sentence after keeping me waiting; "But then, I figured... _How am I gonna punch him out if I never see him again_?"

"Well, when you put it that way..." I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly as she smiled, clearly feeling satisfied with her clever argument.

Maya wiped another tear from her eye as she asked, "Remember when I said that Franziska is capable of more evil than anyone I know? That she probably wouldn't blink an eye after practically committing murder?"

"... I'm not sure that's how you said it, but yeah."

"Well, now I _know_ that's true. I experienced her cruelty first-hand, last night."

Noticing that she had stopped smiling, I stepped closer to her; "Aw, Maya..." I paused, my eyes widening, "Wait, so does that mean you forgive me?"

"Promise me you'll find a way to stop Franziska from getting the best of you, and yes. And," Maya took her hands out of her pockets, counting on her fingers, "And I think... one, two... _four_ days of catering to my every whim could help win you a few points."

Playing off her sly remark, I responded, "Oh, yeah? And what would 'catering' to you entail, exactly?"

Maya had to think for a while before she answered, "Well, not much. It would probably involve a Pink Samurai marathon and taking me out for hamburgers."

"... I do that for you practically every day, Maya," I pointed out, smiling.

"True. I guess that makes you..." she giggled, "_Perfect_, darling."

I was caught off guard by the inside joke. "I, uh, I try?"

We both glanced towards the ground, blushing, thinking of something more to say.

My fingers reached for her left hand involuntarily.

Our eyes met suddenly, as I lifted her hand, holding it inbetween my palms. Maya's gave me a look of question as I stroked her fingers with my thumb. "Maya, I've been thinking..."

The engagement ring was in my pocket, after all.

Trying my best to keep my eyes locked with hers, I stuttered, "You never told me... how you felt about the n-note I left you."

Maya gasped. "Well, I..."

I raised my eyebrows, pleading for a positive response.

"It's..."

_Please, don't laugh at me, DON'T laugh at me--_

"It's... exactly what I was waiting for."

_Please don't laugh at--_

_WHAT!?_

My heart skipped a beat (more accurately, about ten beats). My fingers, laced between Maya's, quaked as I tried to form a coherent sentence. "You... really-- all this time!? Me!? W-Why didn't you say anything?!"

She admitted, "I... thought I was being pretty obvious. Didn't all the teasing about us being a couple give it away?"

Maya inched even closer to me, until our chests touched. My hands had no room to go anywhere but around her waist at that point; in return, hers reached around my shoulders. I couldn't divert my gaze from her innocent eyes, which locked on mine for quite some time.

I could feel the box in my pocket pressing against my leg... meaning that it had to have been pressing against Maya's, too.

I was _tired_ of carrying that box around. It was time to give the ring a new home... hopefully, on Maya's finger.

Everything I had practiced saying sounded wrong as I tried to speak. I hoped to fulfill Pearl's Prince Charming fantasy; but I was sounding more like a bad made-for-television movie. "Have you ever... wondered what it would be like to spend the rest of your life with someone?"

Maya had to catch her breath, but she never looked away. Her lip quivered suddenly, too quickly to spit out a response.

"More specifically... with _me_?"

"I--!"

"I'm sorry... this is all so sudden, I know-- but I've been thinking for a _while_, now... too long, actually--"

"Nick...!"

"What I'm really wondering, is if you would... I mean... will you--?"

My pathetic words were interrupted by a car horn right in front of the complex. It beeped several times, progressively getting longer, until the person in the car just screamed out of his window: "_MR. WRIGHT_!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin, releasing Maya from my arms and looking around to see what man could've possibly called my name. Maya turned bright red, throwing the hood of her jacket over her head for identity protection. I practically threw out my neck trying to turn around to see who could _possibly_ ruin such a moment...

It was _too easy_ to figure out who was calling out for me-- the rusty sedan parked in front of the complex completely gave it away. It was Gumshoe, of course.

He honked his horn, yelling out the open window, "Mr. Wright! Get in the car!"

I glanced at Maya, sighing-- at this rate, I would never ask her... She smiled at me, as if to approve of my leaving her for Gumshoe. I smiled back tentatively, trying to send her a telepathic message that I'd much rather be with her.

Our eyes locked, both of us lost in each other's smile. I wanted so badly to kiss her goodbye...

Gumshoe wildly honking his horn brought me back to reality. Without even saying goodbye to Maya, I ran down the steps leading to the complex, hurriedly opening the car door and throwing myself inside.

As Gumshoe put the car into gear, I took one last look out the window. As we drove off, I waved meekly at Maya, who grinned back at me.

At least I left on a cliff-hanger. I wondered if she was relieved I hadn't gotten the chance to finish my sentence or not...

Gumshoe was normally a bad driver, but that day, he was racing past other cars and slamming on his brakes left and right. I yelled at him after we almost hit a pedestrian, but he refused to slow down-- all while remaining completely silent.

"Gumshoe, what the hell!? Are you trying to kill me!?"

Finally, he spoke; "Mr. Wright, we're late! You're being questioned today!"

"What the _hell_? For what!?"

"I have no idea! Some sort of police investigation about the raid of Ms. Von Karma's office last night..."

I flashed Gumshoe a look of absolute horror. I hated where this was going... "Damn it! You don't think--"

Gumshoe's eyes left the road for a second, returning my terrified expression. Reading my mind, he answered, "I sure hope not, pal-- What is this guy _doing_!?"

The detective slammed his fist into his horn, prolonging its horrible sound as he swerved past a car who was trying to pass _him_. He made a move for the other side of the road-- into oncoming traffic.

"What the hell are _you _doing!?" I grabbed the wheel with both hands, swerving it back onto the proper side of the road. Gumshoe was so shocked by my wheel-grabbing, he yelled out a few expletives and threatened to kick me out of the car. Luckily, after a moment, he just sighed, continuing to speed down the road. I said, "Are you trying to kill me!?"

"I'm trying to get to the police station as quickly as possible, pal!"

I sighed. There was no convincing Gumshoe of driving safely. I shut my eyes the rest of the ride there, holding onto the sides of my seat for dear life. After what seemed like an hour of reckless driving, Gumshoe came to a screeching halt-- since he hadn't stopped the car the entire ride there, I knew we must've been at the police station. I unbuckled my seat belt in a hurry, anxious to see what I was going to be questioned about...

Before I could open the car door, Gumshoe asked rhetorically, "You're really gonna get out of the car without explaining what was just going on with Ms. Fey, back there?"

"What?"

"Are you and Ms. Fey _dating_? I've never seen you two that close!"

_Yeah, and you ruined what would've been a perfect moment..._

I was too anxious to answer fully; "Um... yeah."

"That's _great_! I hope I'm invited to the wedding!" he laughed nonchalantly, clearly unaware of the stress I was under.

I couldn't even look at him. I just nodded my head.

"Oh, sorry... sensitive subject?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," Gumshoe muttered. He cleared his throat awkwardly, starting over, "Okay, so here's the plan. You don't let _anybody_ get the idea that it was _you and I_ who broke in last night! Use any excuse you can think of! Got it?"

"I can't lie... what's the worst that could happen if I told the truth?"

"This is Von Karma we're talking about. Need I remind you of Mr. Edgeworth? And Mr. Turner?!"

I turned towards Gumshoe, my eyes meeting his with a mutual look of fear. "Yeah... I got it."

"Yeah. Well, good luck," Gumshoe took one last look at his watch. Immediately, he laughed loudly, "Would you look at that! Your questioning is at 10:00! Heh, I guess when my instructions said to pick you up at 9:30, I misunderstood-- I could've picked you up half an hour later! Heh... oh well. Maybe they'll be nice to you because you were early, pal!"

"Gumshoe," I sighed, completely dumbfounded, "It's no wonder Von Karma whips you so often."

I opened the car door without saying goodbye, shuffling into the police station reluctantly.

The place seemed eerily benign-- I couldn't help but feel a false sense of security as I stepped through the door. But as I was greeted by a friendly receptionist in the lobby and served coffee in the waiting room, I never would've imagined the types of trials I was about to be put through...


	7. Chapter 7

Oh, God. Can I tell you a secret? This chapter has been completely re-written about four times now, and I'm still not satisfied. At this point, I have other stories on the brain-- HUMOROUS ones. And I can pretty much guarantee they won't be as cheesy as this story has turned out to be.

The way this chapter turned out kind of reminds me of Yesterday... but I guess that this story IS Yesterday's prequel, and there are bound to be parallels between the two... well. Anyway. Franziska is BAD!

Suggestions on how to improve my writing are MUCH appreciated. Thanks for sticking with me!

* * *

When the secretary at the front desk instructed me to do so, I forced myself to enter Franziska's office. An uncomfortable silence followed me as I closed the door and took a seat in one of the leather chairs, listening to the sound of silence buzzing in my ear. The lights were off; the venetian blinds covering the windows cast a dim, striped glow over the entire room.

I'd just stepped into _the boss's _office.

The files that Gumshoe and I had thrown all over the floor the night before were now back to where they came from-- hidden inside Franziska's drawers, presumably. There wasn't a piece of incriminating evidence on the floor to be found.

I waited for Franziska to show up for quite some time-- after what seemed like an eternity, I heard someone knocking at the door. I didn't answer, figuring the person was just knocking out of courtesy before they barged in.

Then they knocked again-- this time, practically knocking the door down with their pounding fist.

_Is the door locked or something?_

I couldn't help but be a little anxious as I stood up and shuffled over to the door. I waited for a moment with my hand on the doorknob, a solemn expression taking over my face. Franziska was probably on the other side, waiting to handcuff me... I had to show her I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

I opened the door, my face stone cold.

"Hello?"

There wasn't anyone outside.

I peeked my head outside the doorway, glancing left and right, but the only person I saw in the entire place was the receptionist in the lobby.

Seeing that the coast was clear, I turned around to go back to where I was sitting, leaving the office door open.

I exhaled.

On cue, someone called out from behind me, "Where do you think you're going, Phoenix Wright?"

I froze.

And before I knew it,

**WHAM**!

I stumbled-- someone suddenly struck the back of my head with what seemed like a baseball bat -- and I was knocked to the ground, my face hitting the wood flooring like a ton of bricks.

_What the HELL--!?_

I didn't have time to defend myself-- I could barely comprehend what was going on from second to second. Someone hit me, I fell down, and the room started spinning...

"Finish him off!"

Someone jumped on top of me, their weight crushing my ribcage-- I craned my neck to see who it could possibly be, but I only caught a glimpse of a man's face before he wrung my neck in the opposite direction, practically snapping a vertebrae as he ground my nose into the floor.

I tried to free myself, elbowing and shoving the man off of me with as much force as I could-- but it was no use.

"What... the hell is... going on!?" I choked inbetween flailing punches, attempting to escape from under the mysterious man crushing me. "Franziska!?"

"Quiet!" I heard a voice --_her_ voice-- barking orders from across the room. "What are you doing!? Take him out!"

_NO!_

I pumped my fist into the air, hoping to hit someone, but my punch was stopped short as the man grabbed my wrist. He clenched it in his giant hands, snapping at least one bone, before I could even touch his face.

"Handcuff him!"

"I'm innocent-- UGH!"

I coughed, trying not to let my lungs collapse as _another_ man landed on me, digging my shoulders into the floor. I finally stopped trying to fight back as two enormous hands wrap around my arms, while two others handcuffed me. I opened my eyes, which were pinched shut before, and saw a tiny puddle of blood forming on the carpet below my nose...

_Did I really hit the ground that hard? I can't remember what happened only seconds ago..._

"What the hell--!?" I repeated myself. "What... What are you trying to do to me!?"

"Isn't it obvious? What do you think happened to your friend, Miles Edgeworth?"

I glanced around-- Franziska Von Karma's black ankle-high boots stood directly in front of my face.

"You-- you killed him!?" I shouted, panicking. "You can't kill me!"

_This can't be the end--!_

"Boys, let's finish Mr. Phoenix Wright off!"

Out of nowhere, one of the men grabbed my face, slapping a thick strip of duct tape over my mouth.

I looked down again, at the few drops of blood that had escaped from my nose, at Franziska's boots. My lower lip was throbbing, my neck felt broken in three different places...

There was only a moment in between trying to breathe and my face being slammed into the ground--

**WHAM**!

Someone struck the back of my head again, despite my quaking body and the look of distress on my face that clearly showed my surrender. I opened my eyes to find that the red puddle underneath me had grown slightly larger-- and I shut my eyes quickly, cringing.

_I can't die yet..._

I went limp. I was going to die. I held my breath, waiting to see bright lights...

"... Are you finished, yet?" Franziska whispered.

"... Looks like it."

After a moment, I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders.

I waited to be hit again, but nothing happened. The men had released me... I could breathe. Of course, I didn't.

My entire body throbbed; I kept my eyes shut so I wouldn't have to see what was really happening to me. The room was silent, and I dared not make a sound.

_What just happened?_

"Poor Phoenix Wright. I guess he never learned to play _dead_, after all."

_SHIT!_

As I gasped, someone kicked me in the stomach with so much force that I flipped onto my back.

I cowered in fear, coughing for air, opening my eyes to see three shadows looming above me.

Two of them, I couldn't make out. The men-- they were heavyweights, masked in black. One of them held a shining crowbar.

_My God..._

The other shadow, with its faintly blue hair and girlish silhouette, was none other than Franziska Von Karma.

I couldn't move. I couldn't open my mouth to speak, either-- it'd been sealed shut. I let a tiny cry escape my mouth, but it was muffled by tape.

Franziska leaned over me, her face dangling above mine, as she whispered with contempt, "You're finished, Phoenix Wright."

**WHAM!**

...

...

When I came to, I was sitting upright.

I was trapped in a dark, confined space, surrounded by dust and thin air. I kicked my feet and felt a door directly in front of me-- if only I had the hands to open it.

I tried to take a deep breath, but was stopped by the layer of duct tape that surrounded my mouth. When I tried to breathe through my nose, a wad of tissue paper stuck up each nostril blocked almost all air from entering into my lungs. I coughed uncontrollably, and when I couldn't cough anymore because I'd run out of air, I panicked.

How was it that I could breathe while I was unconscious!?

I looked down-- I was taped to Franziska's leather office chair. The handcuffed arms behind my back could not move an inch; my entire chest was wrapped in duct tape.

_I am going to die. I am going to die. I am going to--_

Franziska appeared from out of the darkness, opening the door, and ripping the tissue paper out of my nose a second before I ran out of air. As I gasped, she commented, "You practically ruined my floor. You will be paying for that..."

I took another deep breath. I was afraid to blink.

Rolling her eyes, Franziska said, "I think it's time you found out what will be happening today."

A shiver went up my spine. I could only imagine.

A man's shadowy face appeared from the darkness as well-- he grabbed the chair I was in, swiveling it into familiar territory-- Franziska's office. I must've been in the closet.

"Fools!" Franziska exploded to the men, slamming her closet door behind me suddenly. The masked men walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. Franziska panted for a few seconds, as her anger still hung in the air. There was something frighteningly insane about the look in her eyes as she walked in front of me...

"...Mmph?" I mumbled almost inaudibly.

She started again with a smug grin, "Perfection has its price... and you're going to _pay up_."

I waited nervously, silently, until Franziska spoke. "Why would we question a criminal, you ask? Why question a fool who has more than enough evidence against him?"

I squirmed, furrowing my brow in attempted protest.

She folded her arms calmly, "You've done _nothing_?... I beg to differ. Although, it may surprise you what you're actually being charged for. You see, there was no proof that you broke in at all."

I raised an eyebrow, still only blinking when absolutely necessary.

Franziska's eyes widened in disgust. She could barely bring herself to finish her next sentence: "Well, foolish as _you_ are, leaving fingerprints all over the place, the janitor working last night was even _more_ foolish-- by _cleaning your fingerprints off the desk after you left_."

I held back a sigh of relief behind all that duct tape (I would've smiled if I could), watching her eye twitch as she revealed that fact.

She caught wind of my satisfaction, adding, "Oh, don't worry-- we have taken care of the man appropriately. As we will of _you_."

_Taken care_ of the man? That didn't sit too well in my mind. I squirmed again.

"At any rate, when I visited your shabby apartment last night, I was worried I wouldn't be able to find you guilty of _anything_. It wasn't until I remembered a phrase my father once told me-- that a true Von Karma can find her way out of _any_ predicament --that I knew what to do."

"Mmph?"

"You were quite easy to manipulate-- in fact, the plan ended up working out much more successfully than I would've imagined in the first place! Your _assistant_ was there to see the entire thing! You did the damage that I needed you to do, in order to _incriminate_ you-- not to mention, with a witness watching the entire thing... and here we are. And here _you_ are, unaware of the fact that in mere minutes, you will be escorted off to the detention center."

My eyes widened.

"Why, you ask? Well, Phoenix Wright, to be frank," Franziska raised her eyebrows in an almost flirtatious fashion, "Showing you the evidence would be rather indecent."

I cleared my throat.

She repeated, "Yes, indecent." When I still didn't understand, she rolled her eyes, explaining with the most condescending of tones, "It pains me that you can't recall the events of _last night _clearly enough to figure out what damage I'm talking about. Perhaps you remember pushing me violently onto your cold, unforgiving floor?"

My eyes narrowed in disgust, shifting their gaze to the floor. I remembered all too well.

Emphasizing every syllable more than the last, she said, "For your information, your _massive body weight _was enough to partially _crush _me. now, I can't simply _remove my clothing _to show you the bruises and broken bones!"

I involuntarily shouted, "MMPH?!"

"A rib!" she clarified with triumph.

_You pushed me on top of you so that I would break-- my God, Von Karma!_

I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead. I could handle a fingerprint analysis and a mess of files on the floor, but a broken rib and a witness? My argument weakened with every second I looked into Franziska's satisfied eyes.

Bruises and broken bones... There's something to be said about a woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants, even if it means pulling _me_ down to the floor, only to injure _herself._

Franziska broke my dumbfounded silence by saying, "A fractured rib, to be exact. I was quite shocked, myself."

_Tell me this is a nightmare._

"You probably weren't expecting me to leave directly from your dingy apartment to the _emergency room_. Well, I wasn't planning on it, but my side was aching, I was short of breath... The doctor asked me what happened, and I broke down in tears! Oh, the horror of it all... first, to have your own office broken into by a foolish, spiky-haired defense attorney and a mangy, useless detective! Then, to find out that the fool has stolen your most private possession from your desk drawer! _Then_, to have that same fool nearly puncture your _lung_ under his massive weight!?" She paused dramatically to collect her thoughts.

Our eyes met, and she finished, "Why, what I wouldn't give to nearly puncture one of _your_ lungs."

I grunted in pain as I moved my neck and back, trying to slide myself out of the chair-- I had to get out.

"Phoenix Wright, calm yourself," Franziska patted my shoulder patronizingly. I cringed. "It doesn't matter who pushed who... All that matters is that _I'm_ injured, and _you_ get what you deserve."

My eye twitched.

The victorious look across Franziska's face was almost unbearable as she responded, "I consider myself to be a bit _vindictive_, you see... You're responsible for my father's death. That isn't as forgettable or forgivable as you'd think... Phoenix Wright. Even if it was, that doesn't change the fact that you've ruined my perfect record. My father told me it was crucial that my record remain perfect throughout my entire career, and to stop at nothing to reach that goal... I wouldn't have to _get rid_ of you if you weren't so _damn good_ at what you do. Although, by 'what you do', I really mean foolishly _bluffing_ rather than presenting competent evidence... nevertheless, the judge seems to love you."

I tried to remain composed, my eyes shifting nervously across the room.

"I _hate_ that about you, Phoenix Wright."

My eyes shifted.

Franziska pouted mockingly, bending down to my eye level, "I know. It's all so terrible, this situation. I feel your pain. Especially because I see your remorse-- and to think of the _horrors_ I've done to you..."

She touched my cheek with the tips of her fingers, "consoling" me.

Then she tore the duct tape off my face, her face feigning sympathy as she pushed out her bottom lip. I cringed as the top layer of my cheeks practically ripped off my face...

"Sorry for what I've done," Franziska smirked.

"Almost beat me to death?" I gasped for air.

Franziska brought her index finger to her chin, muttering, "Yeah, that too."

_What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

"... W-What else?" I asked hoarsely-- speaking took a lot more energy than I'd expected.

"I'm sorry," Franziska turned around, disregarding my question. "I have a phone call to make."

Before I could object, Franziska walked behind her desk, sat down, and picked up the phone.

"Who are you calling?" I asked, a little more loudly than I had anticipated. I cleared my throat. "Franziska Von Karma?"

Ignoring me, she pressed a single button before speaking quietly into the receiver; "Hello... No, nothing's wrong. I just want to know how the job went."

"Who are you talking to?" I asked, my voice cracking.

She shushed me, responding to the other person on the phone, "So, you are telling me that they are _just_ arriving at her home? ... Yes, number four, correct..."

Number four? _What the hell--_

"... Well, they're certainly behind schedule. I wanted her dead an hour ago."

_Who's 'her'?_

"Mr. Phoenix Wright? Oh, no, he won't be at the apartment-- I'm taking good care of him as we speak. Just get over there and finish her off."

The list.

"Yes, well, we'll worry about _him_ later, I suppose. Once she's dead, he won't have anything to live for, anyway... Poor _fool_..."

Franziska glanced over at me, emphasizing her last words.

She was going to have Maya killed.

"HANG UP!" I shouted, suddenly panicking.

"Oh, would you tell them I said 'thanks'?" Glancing over at me, she smiled in satisfaction as she chirped, "Why, that's... _perfect_!"

"DAMN IT!" I scowled, writhing underneath three layers of duct tape as I tried to sit up, "If you don't hang up, Franziska, I'm... I'm--"

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Franziska leaned across her desktop, looming over me with satisfaction as she held the phone out for me to hear what the man was saying.

_"One of our servicers will send you a bill tomorrow."_

Yelling into the phone, I shouted, "You can't get away with this!"

_"Who was that?"_

"Phoenix Wright!" Franziska shrieked, yanking the phone away. I wasn't sure whether she was just screaming my name in anger, or answering the man's question.

_"I believe our services are meant to be a private matter, Ms. Von Karma. Third parties are strictly prohibited."_

Wildly, Franziska responded, "Oh, don't worry-- Mr. Phoenix Wright is _next_! I thought I could take him on _myself_, but the man is stronger than he looks--"

I tried to move the rolling office chair I was in, inching toward Franziska as I kicked my legs. I growled, "De Killer! You can't kill Maya Fey! I-- can't let you!"

_"What is that man saying?"_

I finally reached the desk. Like a fallen super hero getting back on his feet after being struck with kryptonite, I screamed, "First Miles Edgeworth, now Maya Fey?

Then, Franziska screamed, doing the one thing I was not expecting-- punching me square in the jaw, sending me flying back onto the floor, chair and all.

I screamed from my position on the ground, refusing to give up, "DE KILLER! Did you... kill... Miles Edgeworth?"

_"Well, I--"_

Franziska interrupted the man; "Phoenix Wright, you had better _keep your mouth shut_--"

_"What was that? What did that man just say?"_

"Nothing! Just finish off Number Four, would you," Franziska leaned over the desk again, glaring at me in disgust as she asked frantically, "...Please?"

_"Of course."_

I moaned, though it was useless, "No..."

As politely as she could, Franziska panted into the receiver, "All... all right-- thank you."

My heart stopped as I heard her slam down the phone.

Franziska rubbed her hands together as if she'd just finished a dirty job, brushing off her skirt delicately. She exhaled as she shot me a look of pure hatred.

"I thought I was doing a favor by removing the tape off your face. And you couldn't _shut up_ for _one minute_?"

I could feel my cheeks turning red with anger. I yelled again, "You really think you can get away with killing Maya Fey!?"

"Oh, yes, and kill _you_, too-- but not too quickly. Watching you squirm is ninety percent of the _fun_."

I involuntarily squirmed in my seat, on cue.

"Do you think she's dead yet?" Franziska asked casually, a hint of a teasing smile passing through her lips.

I whispered fiercely, "Let me go."

"What!? Why would I do that?"

"Kill me later... but let me go _now_."

"You want to watch your lover die? How..." Franziska thought for a perfect word, "Pathetic."

I growled.

"By now, she should be dead anyway," she mentioned, whipping out a pair of scissors and running them down the line of masking tape that covered my body. I stood up wearily-- I was still a little lightheaded as I ran for the door.

As I fumbled with the doorhandle, Franziska asked loudly, "What's wrong, Mr. Phoenix Wright? Do you think you could possibly _save_ your precious Ms. Fey from a _professional killer_?"

Well, I couldn't _not_ save her...

Already halfway out the door, I shouted back, "Not only _will_ I do that, but I'll expose _you_ for being the _criminal_ you are!"

I slammed the door shut before I could hear a response. I ran out of the lobby, ignoring the strange looks I was getting-- perhaps they had heard every word of the argument going on in Franziska's office, but I wasn't about to explain anything. Not when I had someone to rescue. And not just anyone... but the one person that mattered most: Maya!

Gumshoe was still waiting in his busted red sedan when I shoved through the lobby doors. He opened his mouth to speak as I hopped in the car, but I shouted above him, "Step on it! We gotta get to my apartment!" Panicking, I fumbled for the cell phone in my pocket, flipping it open and dialing 9-1-1 as quickly as I could with my shaking fingers. "Hello!?"

The detective next to me slammed on the accelerator, pulling out into oncoming traffic and swerving onto the other side of the road. I didn't think twice about his reckless driving.

_"What is your emergency?"_

"Someone's being killed on the fourth floor of the Gatewater apartment complex!"

_"What?-- Where are you calling from?"_

I spoke more quickly than I could think; "I-I'm in the car... I just heard a phone call to the assassin himself! Please, hurry!"

_"You said the fourth floor of what apartment complex again?"_

"Gatewater! Fourth floor, apartment 402-- second door on the left!"

_"All right!"_

"All right?-- Uh, thanks --DAMN IT!"

The phone fell out of my hands as Gumshoe honked his horn, swerving and missing an oncoming truck by only a few inches.

--

The sweat trickling into my eyes and rolling off my chin was not enough to keep me from sprinting to the apartment. My mind ran faster than the pace at which I was running to get_ to _the apartment.

I guess I wasn't even thinking clearly enough to avoid running into one of the police officers standing in the doorway.

The officer grabbed the hood of my jacket; I choked and finally stopped trying to run. I didn't want to end up on the ground for the second time that day, after all.

"Look, fellas, looks like the killer decided to come back!"

"What!?" I shouted, "I'm not De Killer! I'm Wright!"

The officer gave me a strange look, "You were pretty _wrong_ for trying to enter the crime scene, son! If you aren't the killer, who is!?"

"DE KILLER!" I exclaimed back.

"...Yeah, _the killer_. Listen, I don't have time for any of this funny-business--"

"No-- I mean, _De Killer_... the professional assassin! I'm the one who called you saying there was going to _be_ a murder if you didn't show up in time!"

The man let go of my collar, muttering, "Keep your shirt on, son. If you could just step aside--" The officer pushed me out of the doorway and walked briskly through the door.

"WAIT!" I shouted, following the man inside. "I need to see her!"

"Her? You mean the victim?"

"The _victim_!? Wait, no... she's not... _is she_!?"

"Dead?" The officer turned around towards the commotion in the living room, not answering my question.

Getting more impatient, I tried running past the man-- and failed. The officer grabbed the back of my shirt before I even realized it, throwing me into my living room wall.

Pressing my shoulders into the wall, he shouted, "Sir, you're going to get arrested with that kind of behavior! We can't have random passers-by tainting the crime scene!"

I yelled back, "_Random passers-by_!? I'm her--"

"Calm down, son," the officer released me tentatively, leading me outside again. "Who are you, anyway?"

Shaking, I replied, "Phoenix Wright. I live here--"

"Waaaaait a minute!" One of the other officers standing in the doorway turned around. "You're Phoenix Wright? The talented defense attorney?"

Irritated, I brushed off the comment, "Sure... I'm sorry, but, I really need to be in there!"

"No, you don't! We're bringing her out right now! She's gonna need treatment!"

"Please, just let me--"

"Son, what type of insurance do you have?" the officer asked.

"Uhm..." Too preoccupied to remember, I asked stupidly, "Why?"

"We're going to have to take her into the hospital immediately-- oh, here they come."

I froze in the middle of the doorway, staring in horror at the girl being carried out on a stretcher. The blood coming from a wound on the side of her head dripped onto the floor, and her limp arm hung off the side of the stretcher. It flailed around as the medics tried to maneuver through the doorway.

I argued, making a move to secure Maya's arm in the stretcher before she hurt something else, "She's going to get hurt! You need to fix that!" I rested her hand carefully across her chest, inconspicuously checking her pulse to make sure she was still alive as I grabbed her wrist.

"Watch out, sir!" The medic responded. "Stay out of the way!"

How could I stay out of the way when this was a life or death matter? If I stayed out of the way every time something was going wrong in _court_, I wouldn't have the win record I do now... objecting is second-nature to me.

Once the stretcher cleared the doorway, the medics flew out of our building-- the ambulance was already waiting in the street. The cop who had choked me instructed me to sit inside the ambulance with Maya, where I would be asked a couple of questions. The nurse setting up the ambulance threw a bag of ice at me when she saw my face, which had apparently turned black and blue around my eyes and lower lip.

"You hit by the same guys?" she asked as she snapped on two rubber gloves.

"No, actually..." I was too weak to say anything else as I sat down.

The ice wasn't helping in the least. Numbing pain on the outside of the body does nothing to fix the hurt one feels inside... which is usually much worse. I could live with a busted lip, but not with a broken heart...

I sat on the tiny ambulance bench in horror, watching Maya's body be swabbed and partly bandaged. I looked away in embarrassment when the nurse lifted Maya's shirt to check for injury. The last thing I wanted was to be accused of perversion.

As we sped down a bumpy road, the nurse asked me, "Sir, could you tell me... how long it is that you've known Ms. Fey?"

"Maya? Oh, I've known Maya for... what, four years?"

"Good, good. And does she have any allergies?"

I racked my brain, trying to remember if she did. "I don't think... well, maybe... um--"

The nurse lowered her cat-eye glasses, giving me a pathetic look. "I guess we'll find out when we stick an IV in her, now, won't we?"

"Huh!?"

"Listen, sir. I see head wounds all the time. We'll be at the hospital in ten minutes and we'll have her like brand new in a couple days."

I didn't want a "brand new" Maya. I wanted same old, healthy Maya.

--

The unforgiving white lighting in the lobby of the hospital was off-putting enough. The nurse behind the counter, with her condescending smile and fake nails that tapped against the counter surface incessantly, made my feelings even worse. When I watched Maya being rolled into an emergency room on the bloody stretcher, and saw her arm _still_ flailing around off the side, it took everything I had in me not to scream in agony.

I'd completely forgot about the fact that I'd just been whacked in the head with a crowbar a few times only a few hours before.

Gumshoe had brought Pearl to the hospital a few minutes earlier, but left before I could say anything to him. Poor Pearl could barely lift her eyes off the floor when she whispered 'hello' to me.

In the waiting room, the tiny girl sat next to me as we waited in two uncomfortable plastic chairs, her head leaning into the crook of my arm. With her small body pressed so closely against my side, I could feel her breathing shakily, as if she were about to start crying at any given moment.

Minutes passed without moving or talking, and practically without breathing.

I shut my eyes, trying to cleanse my memory of the day, but that only made the memories more vivid.

I couldn't recall the happiness I felt earlier that morning, when I'd finally made things right with Maya... was that really only a few hours ago?

All I could remember at that moment was the dreadful feeling of being too late, and not being able to save her.

Breaking the silence that had hung in the air, and interrupting my thoughts, Pearl mumbled, "Will Mystic Maya be okay?" She didn't bother to look up at me.

I turned in my seat to face the girl directly. Her shoulders caved in as I moved, having nothing to lean on. "I hope so," I sighed. "We just have to wait here and see. I guess her head was bleeding a little, so the doctors are cleaning her up."

Bleeding a little? _That_ was the understatement of the century. A red waterfall trickled down her temple the entire ambulance ride...

"I mean, she will probably be okay. I was hit in the head too," I clarified stupidly.

Pearl's lip quivered as she turned away quickly, her cheeks turning bright pink as if there was a sob behind them pleading to come out.

"Pearls, are _you_ okay?"

She only nodded. I was afraid that if she spoke, she'd start bawling.

"It's only a matter of time before Maya comes out of that room, back to her normal self. A-And we'll move on, like this nightmare never even happened. Right, Pearls?"

She nodded wistfully. "R-Right..."

I sighed, trying to convince _myself_, "Right, everything is going to be fine. Let's just stay calm and get through the next few hours together."

"I've never been in a hospital before. I'm just... nervous, Mr. Nick."

It's much easier to be brave when someone else is depending on you to be.

I smiled, like a loving father to his unsure, frightened daughter, "Pearls, the best way to cure nerves is to stick together. I'm nervous, too... Can I see a little smile?"

As if on cue, Pearl let a tear roll down her cheek.

I panicked. "Pearls, no...!"

"Sorry, Mr. Nick," she apologized, burying her face in her hands.

"No, I didn't mean it like that-- _I'm_ sorry!"

I took one of her hands from her face, lacing my fingers into hers.

She sniffed, and looked down at the hands in her lap. Her hand seemed tiny, only half the size of mine-- and her fingers trembled inbetween the fingers of my right hand. My hand was so dry, the cracks of skin between each finger were raw... my hands have seen better days; they know what it's like to be hurt. Pearl's skin, I noticed, felt brand new and smooth-- she'd never known much hurt before. She didn't know how to handle such a dire situation...

I couldn't blame Pearl for being afraid-- there was a chance that Maya, her only family, could die. She needed family; she needed people to love her unconditionally, to dote on her, to comfort her in her time of need. She needed a mother and father.

In a sense, that made Maya and me her unofficial guardians once her mother left. And I do love Pearl, as if she were my own daughter. I'm in pain when she's in pain, I'm afraid when she's afraid...

I guess that's why I found it so hard not to cry once I took Pearl's hand in mine.

"You can cry if you want to," I muttered, turning back to face the front of the room. I rested my left arm over her shoulders, trying to shelter her from any more emotional harm. "You'll feel worse if you hold all your sadness in, you know," I leaned into her ear.

"... All right," Pearl finally whispered, leaning against me. Her hand remained in mine as I felt her relax, the side of her face melting into _my_ side.

Neither of us said a word after that, let alone acknowledged each other at all. Pearl still sniffled for at least half an hour, wiping her eyes by nuzzling her face into my shirt, but I couldn't think clearly enough to speak any words of encouragement to her. Words weren't really needed, though; they would've been redundant at that point.

It wasn't until a nurse said to me, "Are you the family of Maya Fey?", that I even looked up from the ground.

Retracting my hand from its spot on top of Pearl's, I said hesitantly, "Yes... i-is something the matter?"

"Well... yes--"

I raised an eyebrow in worry, practically begging her to give me a positive answer when I asked, "Is she all right?"

"W-Well, why don't I let you two see her?"

Not exactly the positive answer I was looking for.

The nurse motioned for Pearl and I to get up, and we did, following her to the dreaded emergency room.

"I have to warn you before you go in Maya's room," the nurse cautioned us, "There's been a little... problem."

Pearl reached for my hand discreetly, preparing for the worst. When our eyes met, we both had matching expressions of confusion and fear.

Squeezing Pearl's hand as we stood outside Maya's room, I asked nervously, "W-What kind of problem?"

"Well... it seems she has lost a bit of her memory."

"What!?" Pearl and I both exclaimed a little too loudly. I asked, "What doesn't she remember?"

"Well, I guess when I said 'a bit of her memory', that was an understatement. She cannot even remember her own name..."

Pearl's grip was a lot stronger than I had imagined a ten-year old's to be. Trying to remain calm, I said, "I had amnesia once... is it... do you think Maya will regain her memory?"

"We've been showing her people and objects that should have sparred her memory, but... I'm sorry, nothing seems to catch her attention. Based on the scans of her brain activity, it may be a very slow process..."

I looked down at Pearl, smiling optimistically at her (although I knew _nothing_ positive was about to come out of the situation).

"Well, why don't you two say 'hi' to Ms. Fey?" the nurse asked after a moment of sad silence as she led us to the doorway. "She's resting right now, but at least you can see her."

I nodded, taking a deep breath in preparation for what I was about to see.

Pearl reluctantly followed me into the miniscule room, squeezing my hand so tightly I could've sworn my fingers were about to break off.

... Maya slept in the hospital bed in the center of the room. The only reason I knew she was alive was because of the heart monitor beeping slowly in the corner.

She was motionless, sleeping under the thin covers of the bed. I almost complained to the nurse about why more blankets weren't being used (after all, the room seemed to be at a comfortable temperature of thirty degrees below zero), until I noticed a blanket in a heap on a cart-- covered in blood. The nurse took out a clean blanket from out of the small closet in the corner, and draped it over Maya, covering everything but her face.

A thick layer of gauze wrapped around Maya's forehead was spotted with dried blood, as was her hospital gown. An IV stood by the bed, its tubes surging type O blood into her frail arm.

For being around crime scenes so much, I sure felt uneasy around all that blood.

Apparently, so did Pearl. She tugged on my shirt as she whimpered, "Mr. Nick..."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I, um, well..." Pearl glanced around anxiously, excusing herself by saying, "I can wait outside if you want. You should be with Mystic Maya, anyway..."

I nodded, completely aware of the fact that she was trying to escape. "Just stay right outside, though, okay?"

Pearl practically sprinted out of the room as she sighed in relief. I felt like a father again, feeling the same pain she was feeling-- I hated seeing Pearl so uncomfortable, especially because there was nothing I could _do_ to soothe her. The nurse left the room on cue, and thankfully, I heard her strike up a casual conversation with Pearl outside.

Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out what to do now that I was alone with Maya. I wanted so desperately to touch her, or kiss her on the cheek... but, if she were to wake up, the situation could end up in disaster-- especially if she couldn't remember that I almost proposed to her.

Leaning against the bedrail, I mumbled, "Hi, Maya."

No response, of course.

"I'm so sorry..."

I could hear the nurse trying to tell Pearl a joke outside. Pearl wasn't laughing.

I sighed, "This is all my fault. I couldn't save you-- damn it..."

Something inside me burst. I could feel my eyes getting a little moist.

"I mean, it should be _me_ in your position right now. I'm the one who should suffer... right? You aren't the one who broke Von Karma's perfect win record, you've done _nothing_..." Pleading to the sleeping body in front of me, I choked, "I tell you what, as soon as you're feeling better, I'll, uh..."

I guess I'd figure out what I would do when she _was_ feeling better. I stopped talking. There isn't much to say to a person who can't hear you, right?

_I love you._

Except that.

Without thinking, I reached for Maya's limp hand, half-hoping to bring her back to life.

My heart hurt.

Lifting her hand to my chest, I wondered... _Where do I go from here_? If Maya couldn't remember who I was... where does that leave _us_? It was only a matter of time before she would wake up, and realize that I'm a complete stranger-- and if the memory damage was permanent, that would mean... the end of it, wouldn't it? Our relationship could never be the same after starting from scratch, could it?

"Damn it."

A tear fell from my cheek onto the limp hand I held against my heart. If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's crying in public. I forced myself to swallow down whatever was welling up behind my eyes, wiping my face with my sleeve. I had to be strong-- I didn't want Maya to wake up to the sight of a grown man sobbing...

Instinctively, I lifted her hand up to my lips, letting them quiver on her fingers for a moment. I kissed them, and involuntarily allowed two other tears escape from my eyes onto the back of her hand. My lips lingering on her skin, I fought the urge to bend down and kiss her on the _mouth_-- only because I was afraid of hurting her. Her hand was the next best thing.

Someone called out, "Um, excuse me..."

I jumped and turned around, dropping Maya's hand clumsily-- it was the nurse. "I'm sorry!" I turned back around, gently placing her hand under the blanket where it came from. I hoped my face wasn't red as I panicked, "I mean, uh--!"

"Oh!" the nurse sighed. "I'll come back later." The door slammed shut as the nurse shuffled out.

I exhaled, turning around once more towards the bed to swallow back tears.

Maya rustled the sheet on her bed, her eyes fluttering open, then closing peacefully.

"Hello?" I asked quietly, although I could hear a hint of panic seeping through my teeth.

Her eyes fluttered for a minute, until they finally remained open.

"Maya..."

She stared at me for some time, her expression remaining neutral. I smiled, hoping she would say my name sooner or later...

_Say it... Say, "Nick, my love!" Say anything! Please, remember I exist..._

"D-Doctor?" she asked, trying to identify me.

I bit my lip as my heart sank to the floor. "Not exactly..."

"Nurse?"

She... she had no idea.

My heart hurt before-- but now it _ached_.

"Who... are you?" she whispered.

"I'm Phoenix. You usually call me Nick... don't you remember?"

Maya's brow furrowed slightly, as much as the gauze tape keeping her forehead in one place would allow, trying to recall. "Nick...? I can't... I mean, don't, remember... Who _are_ you?"

What do I say? _'I'm your hopefully-fiancee'_? "We live together," I mumbled, heartbroken. "I... um, how are you feeling?"

Maya shifted uncomfortably in the bed. She lifted her free arm to adjust a sheet.

"Oh, Maya, I'll take care of that!" I hurry to grab the sheet, tucking her in slightly at the sides.

"Maya?... W-Who's that?"

I paused. "Maya... is _you_."

There was a moment of silence.

I gazed into her eyes, hoping to find a spark of life, of the old Maya, in them-- but they were devoid of any spirit. She was _a_ Maya Fey, but not _my_ Maya Fey...

"This is all my fault," I lamented almost inaudibly. "I'm so sorry-- if only I hadn't gotten involved with Von Karma--"

"Wait..." Maya's cheeks flushed pink, her eyes glistening as she whispered, "I'm confused."

I'm sure my eyes glistened as much as hers were. Although, her tears were the result of sheer frustration that she couldn't remember who I was-- mine, on the other hand, were _because_ of the memories... knowing that her eyes used to sparkle when they met with mine, and now they were almost lifeless...

"Me too," I whispered back, looking away. If I tried to explain anything else, it might've been _both_ of us crying. I definitely didn't want that to happen-- after all, those first few minutes in the hospital were Maya's 'first impression' of me. I couldn't ruin them.

A fat tear rolled from her cheek down her neck, leaving a wet spot on the hem of her hospital gown.

"Don't cry," I half-smiled, bending down to touch her face with the back of my hand, "We'll figure things out. I promise."

Our faces were several inches apart-- I offered a smile, enjoying the closeness. Her mouth curved upwards the tiniest bit, as she responded weakly, "Okay... Neil..."

The smile left my face, making my hurt feelings quite obvious-- I stood up, scratching my head as I corrected her, "It's... Nick."

Someone knocked at the door; I called for them to come in, clearing my throat.

"Visiting hours are over, Mr. Wright," the nurse said, looking up from her clipboard. "Oh-- Maya's awake! Did you two talk at all?"

I nodded.

"Well, then... why don't you come outside with me? Someone's coming with new bed sheets for her."

_Yeah, it's about time they were coming_...

"Goodbye, Maya," I smiled solemnly, grabbing her hand once again.

Maya smiled weakly.

I lifted her hand to kiss her fingers one final time.

I followed the nurse out, waving a weak 'goodbye' to Maya before I left. The door shut, and I tried to sigh, but the only breath I could get out was a shallow, quivering, panicky exhalation. The kind of weak breath one lets out right before he starts sobbing to the point where he becomes nauseous.

The nurse offered a sympathetic smile. "She will be ready to leave tomorrow, at least... any luck jogging her memory?"

Pearl appeared, poking her head out from behind the woman. She seemed to have perked up quite a bit, as she asked curiously, "Is Mystic Maya herself yet?"

I could only respond with a blunt, "No."

"O-Oh," Pearl stuck her finger in her mouth, biting at her fingernail. "Well... maybe tomorrow..."

"That's exactly right, little Pearl," the nurse exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood, "If you'd like, you can wait around for a few hours and grab dinner downstairs. You can visit Ms. Fey again in a little while."

I nodded. It was about all I could do.

The nurse walked away. I was left with Pearl, hoping she would be the first person to say something. I couldn't bring myself to speak. I couldn't force myself to begin walking towards the elevator. I was frozen.

Pearl finally asked, "Mr. Nick... we should get going?"

Snapping out of a daze, I muttered, "Yeah," and started heading for the door. Pearl was trailing behind, and I didn't even notice.

"We should do something," she suggested, catching up to me as we pushed our way through the revolving exit. "The nurse was really nice... um... she said the cafeteria was on the third floor. I'm a little hungry..."

"What's for dinner?" I asked blankly.

"I think she said... _hamburgers_."

A shiver went up my spine. I was going to be sick.

"Let's just go," I muttered, letting Pearl lead the way to the elevator.

She pressed the button to go downstairs, and the door opened immediately. Luckily, no one was inside... Pearl and I were the only ones riding. We both slumped onto the back wall.

I rubbed my eyes to wipe away any evidence of crying a few minutes before.

"Mr. Nick?"

"Oh, Pearls," I sighed loudly. Not really expecting an answer, I asked in a half-whisper, "What are we gonna do?"

The girl looked up at me, and I at her.

"Mr. Nick, your eyes are all red."

I blushed, looking away. "Great..."

"Sorry."

"I'm sorry, too, Pearls," I responded. "It's just..."

_It's just that this could not have happened at a worse time..._

"Yeah, I know," Pearl sighed in agreeance. And then, like a mature daughter trying to comfort her feeble, emotionally-unstable father... she took my hand and squeezed it tightly. "Mr. Nick?"

"... Yeah?" I smiled glumly at her.

"You can cry if you want to."

I choked, just in time for the elevator to open its doors.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Gosh, this chapter took forever to get right. It's still not really right... well, I guess it's as right as it's gonna get. I had it finished about two months ago. Then I got mono, and then I went on an extended vacation, and I think somewhere inbetween those two events, I put up this chapter in its rough draft form. Yeah, I took that down quickly. It was awful.

Only two more chapters left in this story, and then it's time for a summer comedy/romance of epic proportions! I just want to thank anybody who has reviewed this story or listed it as one of your favorites. It means SO MUCH, especially with a story like this, that I'm having a ton of trouble writing-- your feedback is the only reason I'm finishing this one. I love you all!

* * *

_"And I think... one, two... _four_ days of catering to my every whim could help win you a few points."_

Four days went by... then five days, then a week, and eventually, two weeks. Fourteen days spent at home without a single meaningful hug, hoke, or utterance of the phrase "my love"...

It was, according to what the nurse told me, a mildly severe case of post-traumatic amnesia. The doctor said that Maya's memory should come back gradually, within a week after I took her home. Seven days later than a week, with no progress whatsoever, I began to think the situation was hopeless.

The autumn weather grew more distinct as the days went on, and with the change in seasons came the inevitable shortening of days-- my world literally became darker and darker.

I spent my days, as I had promised, catering to Maya's every whim. I made food, rented movie after movie to watch with her, and tended to her wounds. Our conversations were decent enough. Of course, they were never as deep or as meaningful as they were only two weeks before, but she seemed to enjoy my company. All conversations ended with a hint of desperation on either side. While she grew tired of working so hard to remember the littlest things, I grew exhausted of trying to hold back the affection I longed to give her.

I was warned not to dote on her constantly-- it would only add to her emotional distress. As a result, I felt utterly lost. I had no idea how I was supposed to act around her. The most I ever touched her, aside from when I had to wrap her head in a bandage once daily, was when we'd snuggle on the couch, watching movies, with my arm relaxed around her shoulder.

... I put on a smiling face for Maya at all times, though, remaining cheerful through even the bleakest of days. I'm not sure which was worse: the crying at night, or the feigned stability during the day.

Anyway, the doctors told me it wouldn't take less than a week to get her brain working normally again. They were quite wrong about that. Maya and I headed out to the hospital several times for checkups that ultimately left us both feeling a little more than discouraged.

The look of complete concentration in Maya's eyes whenever we talked was what killed me the most. To see her struggling... especially when I told her about the laughs we shared together, and the few intimate moments we'd had.

One night, in a frenzy of desperation, I dug out the ring box from the bottom of my drawer, wondering what I should do with it. I stared and stared at the ring inside of it, sniffling and praying out loud that my efforts would not be wasted. At that rate, I was never going to be able to ask her the big question...

I decided to keep the ring in my pocket. I If she were to suddenly remember everything, I was _not_ about to waste a moment before proposing to her. This constant anticipation caused even more anguish for me, and more heartbreak when another day would go by without my pocket being emptied.

I couldn't let her know how disappointed I was that nothing seemed to be bringing her memory back. I couldn't let her catch a glimpse of my weak side-- she was already so weak.

I just wanted her to remember her happiness, her health, her family...

And, of course, I wanted her to remember _me_.

---

It was Maya's turn to choose what movie we would watch that night. She chose a movie in which an old man tells a love story to an old woman with memory-handicapping dementia... and by the end of the film, it is revealed that the story is actually _their_ story, but she couldn't remember the events actually happening-- just in time for the couple to die in each other's arms.

(Talk about bad timing, as far as choosing movies goes.)

We were both thrown completely off-guard by the film. Maya wasn't able to handle herself with as much composure as I was. She sobbed uncontrollably as the credits rolled, and I, refusing to cry in front of her, stayed stable by holding her closely. She was mumbling something I couldn't understand, and when I asked her to repeat what she had just said, she simply leaned in closer to me.

_What do I do now?_ I was told not to hold her too closely.

My heart was pounding. Half out of heartbreak from feeling her sobs against my chest, half out of the fact that I was finally holding Maya in my arms after two weeks of barely getting a chance to hug her.

I wasn't about to let that moment slip away, despite what the doctors said.

I tried to think of something to say, pushing Maya's hair away from her cheeks as her tears soaked the pocket of my shirt. I shifted back on the couch, allowing her head to lay on my chest.

I had an ominous feeling in the gut of my stomach. I knew something was wrong. I knew that Maya was unhappy-- and it wasn't just because of the tear-jerking movie we had just watched. It was the utter hopelessness she felt (and that I was beginning to feel) that started to weigh on her mental stability.

I'm awful at reading people, but it didn't take a genius to figure that one out.

She looked up at me, after being buried in my shirt for some time, with the most devastated expression across her face. I don't know what came over me after that. I bent my head down, and before I knew it, my lips pressed into her cheek, brushing away the tear rolling out of her eyes. I was only an inch away from her lips (not to mention her neck-- which I noticed was sticky with wet tears when my fingers involuntarily gravitated toward it).

I hadn't _touched_ Maya in over two weeks, and there I was, kissing her cheek.

It had to have been more than an hour later when Maya stopped crying for good, but I made sure I was soothing her the entire time-- stroking her hair, kissing her forehead lightly.

Once we had both retired to our separate bedrooms, I broke down in tears, almost more violently than Maya had.

It had been most intimate moment I'd ever shared with Maya to date.

That must have been when she made up her mind...

Fast forward about four hours: my alarm clock buzzed at nine o'clock. When I got up to turn it off, I could barely see straight, my eyes were so cloudy. As soon as I turned off the alarm, I rushed to the bathroom to see what was the matter with me.

I stared into the mirror, horrified-- I was as pale as a ghost, and had purple shadows surrounding my eyes as if I'd just been punched twice in the face.

I left the bathroom, meandering into the kitchen. It had become routine for me to bring breakfast to Maya's bedroom every morning. My mind was barely functioning as I took out a muffin and the bottle of orange juice from the refrigerator. My brain was somewhere else-- it was back in bed, it was wherever Edgeworth was, it was in Maya's arms... it wasn't making breakfast. I wandered without thought back towards Maya's room, carrying a plate, on which the muffin and glass of orange juice neatly sat.

"I especially can't _now_... you should've seen him."

_Who is that!?_

I heard Maya's voice in the other room. She was talking to someone.

"Right, tomorrow morning--"

It sounded like she was on the phone. I opened her bedroom door.

"--I'll see you tomorrow," she finished, hurriedly looking up at me and hanging up upon realizing that I was in the room. That worried me. Seeming desperate to change the topic, she asked, "Are you having an allergic reaction to something? Your eyes don't look so good."

"They're fine, I've got allergies," I lied. "Here's breakfast."

Maya sighed, almost in relief that I didn't ask her any questions, as I set out the plate of food in front of her and placed the glass of orange juice onto her night stand.

I watched her take one bite of that blueberry muffin before I asked eagerly, "So, who were you talking to?"

Mid-chew, Maya looked up. She blinked her eyes a few times-- she was caught.

"Oh, that," she mumbled. "I don't know if I can tell you right now..."

"Why's that?" I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"It's not really the right time to tell you."

_What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

"All right," I said tentatively. I didn't have to know every detail of Maya's personal life, not a big deal... except for the fact that she had not used the phone in the past two weeks. It was more than a little strange that she would, all of a sudden, feel the urge to have a deep and abrupt conversation with someone and refuse to tell me who she was talking to.

Trying to explain, Maya started up again, "Well... it's just that--"

I wasn't going to press her to tell me. That previous night had been pressing enough.

"It's fine, Maya," I interrupted with a crooked smile, "Are you feeling well? That's the important thing."

Making eye contact, she answered honestly with the same half-hearted smile that I wore, "I've been better."

We sighed simultaneously. Silence for a few moments.

"So, I think I'm going to have to go to the office for a while today," I mentioned out of the blue. "Haven't been there in two weeks... I'm sure the answering machine is almost full."

"Oh, that sounds good."

"Do you want to come with me?"

Maya told me she was going to clean her room while I was gone. I asked her why, and she wouldn't say.

I thought about it the entire way to the office. I was convinced she was trying to give me an anxiety attack. There was no other reason for her to alienate me, and mysteriously talk to people on the phone, and clean out her room, which didn't need cleaning in the first place...

_Unless_, I thought as I pushed open the door of my office, _she was trying to empty it..._

No. That couldn't be true. She had no reason to empty her room.

_Unless she planned on leaving._

_Would she do that?_

My office was dark and unkempt. It was a little lonely without Maya and Pearl running around the small room, screaming and laughing. I missed it.

The answering machine of the phone on my desk flashed its red light incessantly, indicating that someone was trying to get a hold of me. That was a surprise. I pressed the button to listen to the messages.

_"Hello, you have reached the Wright & Co. Law offices. Nick can't take your call right now-- he's out doing an investigation or at a trial or something else just as lawyer-ly..." _Maya recorded that voicemail message. I was embarrassed for the company every time I heard it. _"--But, please, leave your name, phone number, and a message, and we will return your call as soon as possible. Thank you!" _

A robotic female voice finished, _"You have one new message."_

Beep.

_"Hey, pal, you're not gonna believe this!"_ a gruff voice exclaimed into the answering machine. I knew it well-- Gumshoe. _"I've got three plane tickets to Chicago, and guess who's coming with me? You and Maya! This'll be great! We're going to find Mr. Edgeworth before you know it, if all three of us work together!"_

I rubbed my temples in frustration.

He couldn't have picked a worse time for a road trip. We couldn't go-- not with Maya in the physical shape she was in. I would have to tell him I couldn't go, and he would have wasted his money on the non-refundable plane tickets, and I'd have to pay him back... _What an inconvenience_.

_"Ah, pal, this is gonna be a trip to remember... I'll call you in the morning. I just couldn't hold the news in any longer. I just confirmed our flight! Call me if you have any questions tomorrow."_

He paused.

_"You didn't answer your cell phone. You always answer your phone. I hope everything's all right, pal. If you don't answer your phone by tomorrow morning I'm storming your apartment. You never know what's up, these days, with the whole Franziska thing... hey, speaking of which, how's Maya?"_

Another pause. "You can't wait for an answer from me while you're leaving a _message_, Gumshoe," I muttered to myself.

_"Wait a minute, this is an answering machine... you can't answer me. I should really learn when to keep my mouth shut..."_

I sighed impatiently.

_"I guess I'm hanging up now. See ya, pal."_

"Damn it," I muttered, simply for the sake of muttering something.

I made a motion to sit down at my desk. The creaking of the chair as I sat down in it was unusually loud-- it scared me. Normally, there would be the white noise of Maya and Pearl's conversation in the other room to ease the unpleasant sound of the creaking chair...

It was abnormally quiet.

There was no way I could stay.

I wasn't about to get started on any work. Ironically enough, there was no way I could concentrate in a room that silent-- I was too used to the headache-inducing chaos.

I grabbed my coat off the chair in the front and headed for the door.

An idea came to me: I would do something nice for Maya instead.

_But what?_

There was a flower shop right down the street-- I wouldn't have to run through the park again trying to find a suitable flower vendor. What a disaster _that _was.

I smiled a little, excited with the idea of surprising Maya with something nice out of the blue. She wouldn't see it coming, and I would say something incredibly romantic, and, _maybe_, she might remember...

_Could she snap back to her old self just by receiving flowers?_

It was a long shot, but I was already paying for a bouquet of yellow daisies by the time skepticism could make me think twice.

_Maybe, if she does remember..._

I reached deep into my pocket. I sighed excitedly-- the ring was still there, just in case.

---

"Maya?" I cracked open the door of our apartment. "I'm home! I brought you something..."

On the couch lay Maya Fey-- a tiny girl wrapped up in two quilts that covered everything but her head. Her exhausted eyes glazed over as she watched a movie on our fuzzy television screen. She didn't even look up at me.

Hanging my sweatshirt on the back of the couch, I caught a glimpse of what Maya was watching-- some movie-musical I'd never seen before. A beautiful girl sang sadly, as a romantic orchestration lilted in the background, _"Old Man Sunshine, listen you, never tell me dreams come true..."_

Maya had clearly been crying.

_"They're writing songs of love, but not for me..."_

I hurried over to her side, and upon glancing around the room, I noticed two large suitcases in the corner. They belonged to Maya.

_What the hell?_

The daisies behind my back seemed to droop with disappointment and embarrassment. I felt my face burning.

"What is all this!?" I asked impatiently, still hiding the flowers behind my back. I made a quick beeline for the kitchen, where I could hide those damned flowers until I knew it was all right to bring them out.

"It was Pearl that I talked to this morning, Phoenix."

"Okay," I called out from the kitchen, stuffing the flowers into the refrigerator, "Why are all your things packed away?"

I came back into the living room a little out of breath, standing by her side.

She turned to me, finally. "I'm... really sorry."

"Sorry for what?" I asked. "You haven't done anything wrong..."

"Yeah," she agreed sarcastically, with a melancholy sigh, "I'm about to."

My stomach sank, as an ominous feeling gnawed at my heart. The hurt in her eyes was all too unbearable. I said, despite my fear of what I might hear, "Just tell me."

She stifled a cry.

"Maya, what's wrong?! Are you feeling okay?" I kneeled on the ground in front of her, taking one of her hands in mine. It was the first time I touched her all day. "Do I need to take you to the hospital, or something?"

"I'm fine, physically," she sighed, "It's the emotions I'm having problems with."

"Well, tell me what's on your mind."

I looked up into her eyes as I kneeled in front of her, wide-eyed with affection, willing to do anything to keep her from crying. I just wanted her to have a nice evening. I came home intending to make her smile, not cry. Maya looked down at me, doing everything in her power to keep herself from tearing up.

"Tell me," I implored her.

"Phoenix," she whispered, leaning into me, "I appreciate everything you've done. You've been such a great caretaker, a friend, even."

I heard her breath stop, as if she had to pause to maintain stability. As if she were holding back something...

"But I don't think it's fair... I mean, it's practically useless. The whole idea that I'll ever be able to... to remember--"

_Damn it._

"Wait," I cut in, knowing all too well how that sentence was going to end. "Don't finish that sentence."

_Damnitdamnitdamnitdamnit--_

"Phoenix--"

I couldn't hear those words-- _I don't remember you_. Or worse-- _the whole idea that I'll ever be able to love you_.

Would she say that to me?

I attempted reassurance, "Is that what this is all about? It's not useless, Maya. We haven't exhausted all of our options, yet."

Maya's bangs fell over her eyes, as she looked into mine. She was about to start crying again.

In a voice so meek I could hear her breathing through her words, Maya asked, "You _are_ talking about my memory, right?"

"Of course I am," I lowered my voice as well.

"...How can you say that we haven't tried everything?"

"I know we haven't," my voice wandered.

I didn't fool Maya. She pouted a little. "I just don't have it in me..."

"We have to think out of the box," I said, "And I'm good at that, so something will come along that will cure you soon enough."

Maya looked away.

"Last night was rough, I'll admit it, but, you know, I don't want you to give up. For your own sake."

She sighed, "I have to go back..."

"Back where?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Back to this 'Kurain Village'... my home."

"Sure, we could visit it! Maybe it'll spark your memory."

"No, I mean... I mean that I think I need to go back to Kurain and _stay_ there."

My heart dropped.

"... What?" I mouthed, glancing away.

Time stopped.

_Have I done something wrong?_

The tiny diamond in my pocket suddenly felt a hundred pounds heavier.

After all the miserable, sleepless nights, and the days spent attending her every need, and the constant worrying and grieving... After all the reasoning with myself, trying to justify my own misery by making sure that Maya knew she was loved and wanted...

"...You're giving up?" I finally whispered, too speechless to mutter anything else.

Maya rubbed her eyes slowly, as she explained, "I don't want to give up..."

"Then, why?"

"You bend over backwards for me. You're perfect," her shoulders caved in and her head fell into her hands, "which is why I can't bear to see you wasting your time on a hopeless case like me."

"But..."

_I don't exactly have anyone else to waste my time on._

"You'd think I would've snapped back to normal by now, if this is just temporary amnesia..."

I mentioned, "Well, the doctor _did_ say it may take some time..."

"I can't expect you to take care of me forever."

"I wouldn't mind." I took a deep, tentative breath.

"My family will take care of me... won't they?" Lifting her fingers from her eyes, she looked at me, "If I go back to where I belong?"

"B-But, you belong... You belong _here_."

Did I have to get on my knees and beg her to stay? As the song goes: _to lead a better life, I need my love to be here..._

She sighed, "I know here is where I _should_ belong... but it's just so... heartbreaking for me."

That statement stung more than I could've imagined.

_Heartbreaking for you!?_

"You couldn't even begin to understand how heartbreaking it is for _me_, Maya," I retorted. That came out a little more harshly than I had meant. I was the one who had to live with the memories, knowing what happened-- knowing it could never happen again. I mumbled an apology.

The first of many tears rolled down Maya's cheek, as she said guiltily, "I know."

Our eyes met. Maya gave me a stern, intense look. She hated the fact that I was willing to torture myself for her. She didn't want to have to defend her decision. I knew I shouldn't be begging her to stay. I couldn't help it.

"I'll do whatever you want me to do. We can start fresh. You will get better, Maya, and I want to be the one to take care of you--"

"I don't think I can stand lying awake another night, listening to your _crying_ across the hall," she admitted abruptly.

I froze. She sniffled. She could hear me...

"You weren't supposed to hear that," I whispered, mortified. I hoped she couldn't tell that I was about to start crying then, as well.

"... I know."

"I'd be even _more_ miserable if you weren't around, you know."

I took her other hand in mine, trying to feel a connection to her, but Maya broke away as she cried, practically exasperated this time, "Phoenix, I just can't stay."

I turned away, releasing my gentle grip on her hands, embarrassed to look at her. I bit my bottom lip and shut my eyes. I reverted to a state of blank shock.

She asked, through her tears, "Can you please... try to understand?"

I was having a hard time with that request.

"When Pearl called earlier today, she offered to have me stay with her and the family in Kurain. There's a train coming in... tomorrow morning."

That was only about twenty hours from then.

"... And you want to go?" I whimpered.

I glanced over at the suitcases. _Of course you want to go._

The television's monotone colors cast a gray glow over Maya's pretty complexion. She looked back at me distantly, like an old photograph of the past, no longer living, and no longer a part of my life.

My face, my mind, my entire being went blank.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Meanwhile, the song on the television came to a climactic ending-- _"When every happy plot ends with the marriage knot... and there's no knot for me!"_

Both Maya and I turned to look at the screen. Maya gasped, knowing all too well how close to home those lyrics hit. Looking back at me, and seeing my utter despair, she sprung up and ran towards her bedroom down the hall.

**Slam**. Her door shut, and through the paper-thin walls, I heard the familiar creak of her entire body weight crashing onto her bed.

My chest ached.

My chest _ached_, as I felt a part of me whither away.

I clicked off the television, and sat there alone in front of the empty couch, on the cold floor.

It seemed to be the only place fit for a man who felt so hopelessly desolate at that point.

My last night with Maya Fey-- the woman I was in love with --and I didn't have time to do anything special for her. I couldn't even bring myself to get up and give her those flowers I bought.

I had to make the night count. But how, when I knew that she would only be leaving me the next day? I leaned forward, lost in concentration.

I thought back to happier times.

I was in fourth grade. I was at summer camp with my two best friends, Larry Butz and Miles Edgeworth-- back then, Edgeworth and I still called each other by our first names. I was sprinting through the forest around Gourd Lake, scared to death that I would be eaten by a zombie camper... it was that summer that Edgeworth and I separated and didn't speak for more than a decade.

I was in college, an art student at the Ivy University. My longtime girlfriend, Dahlia Hawthorne, brought me lunch in my dorm room when I had a bad cold. She kissed me that afternoon, despite my repeated attempts to keep her healthy and away from me... it was later that week when I was accused of murder, and it turned out that Dahlia's twin sister was pretending to be in love with me in order to keep a dark secret throughout the duration of our relationship.

I was twenty seven years old. I just won a case in which my assistant, Maya Fey, was being held captive for ransom. When Maya finally reappeared after so many days, she rushed into my arms. That moment of elation, shared with Pearl Fey and my friends at the court house, was when I first realized just how far I would go to keep Maya close to me... and now, she would be saying goodbye for the final time, and I couldn't stop her.

_Is my life meant to have an unhappy ending?_

I'm always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I meet someone, become friends with them (or, in Iris or Maya's case, I fall in love with them), and something awful happens that completely obliterates that relationship's chances of success.

It takes a while to recuperate after one's entire world comes crashing down. It's happened to me more than once, unfortunately.

Ironically, the events that take place before one's world comes crashing always seem to be taken for granted. I never fully appreciated the time I spent with Maya. If I had appreciated it, I would have realized that our time together could be cut short at any moment-- and that if I loved her, I would have to act fast.

It wasn't just time that was racing. My own erratic behavior around her was too abrupt. The moments we shared never seemed to last long enough. We pulled away from embraces too quickly, said goodnight too soon... I couldn't relax enough to slow down and appreciate every _second_ of time spent together.

My heart still raced every time our hands met, and every time our shoulders touched on the couch. She brought the vitality into my life that I was so long missing.

And when we watched that depressing movie the night before-- I quickly took the initiative to hold her in my arms. I began kissing her, pulling her in closer to me... it all happened so fast. That must have been when she made up her mind. She couldn't stay in a house with a man who secretly _wanted _her...

What would my relationship with Maya have been like if I had relaxed? If I could have grown into that comfortable stage of love, where I could take my time with each conversation, each lingering embrace-- as opposed to that chaotic 'puppy love' stage in which I found myself constantly running around, trying to prove my worth to her?

_Damn it._

I did it all wrong. I did everything all wrong, again.

I reflected on that idea for a while.

_Well, I can't change it now.._.

In a matter of hours, I would be saying goodbye to Maya Fey for the last time.

If I could have done anything differently, I would have been open with her. I would have taken things slowly. I would have walked alongside her, as opposed to following behind her as she raced ahead of me.

_What I wouldn't give to take a walk with her now._

I would have taken every opportunity to express my feelings for her. I wouldn't have let my own fear of being hurt get in the way of exploring a potentially beautiful relationship.

I knew it would have been a beautiful one.

I heard Maya's door crack open. I opened my eyes, alert now-- she was walking toward me. I had to compose myself.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," she replied in an almost-whisper. "It's been an hour..."

"It has?" I asked, shocked. Even the hour between hearing the news and then seemed to fly by. "I was just thinking about something."

"_Soo_..."

"Got all your stuff ready?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah... It's all in the hallway, ready to go."

Running her fingers along the hem of her shirt, she yawned, "I guess I'm going to bed... are you?"

_Am I going to let this moment slip by, too?_

In times of desperation, there is nowhere to go but up.

"No, I've been thinking about something. There's something I want to show you."

"What is it?"

"Why don't we ... go on a walk?"


	9. Chapter 9

So, here it is. The climax of the story. Theres one more chapter left, but it's more of an epilogue than anything else. I realized that I actually _am_ happy with the way this story's turned out... you can't write romance without a little fluff. That's why my next story will be much more humorous, with only small doses of romance. I am literally ITCHING to finish this story so that I can write it.

Recommended listening while reading this chapter: Here there and Everywhere by the Beatles, and We All Need Saving by Jon Mclaughlin. Such pretty songs!

* * *

_"When one is at his lowest, there is nowhere to go but up."_

Maybe I took that sentiment a little too literally.

Maya followed me reluctantly up the apartment complex stairs. I didn't tell her where we were going, but she had to have known-- there's only one place the stairs of a building will lead to, if one goes as far as he can. I'd only ever been on the roof once, but I was drawn to the idea of taking her there.

I held a book tightly to my chest-- the book I had put together for Maya, of course. That was what I wanted to show her in the first place.

One final attempt. It was desperate, but so was I.

I opened the door for her, and we stepped outside. The wind whirled around us, tousling her hair, but she wasn't fazed.

The roof was desolate-- a wide open space with absolutely nothing to block our view of the sky. We walked silently, somberly, towards the edge of the building, and peered over the ledge.

It was beautifully quiet.

"It's so calm down there," she said curiously, looking down. Her shoulder brushed against mine as she leaned forward, getting a better view of the street.

I said nothing, only smiling a little at the way she lit up for a few seconds.

"It's so pretty... from far away," she mentioned quietly.

I laughed a little. "You couldn't be more right about _that_."

The sky was practically purple that night. Though many lights were still on throughout the city, I could clearly make out clusters of stars, and the moon that illuminated Maya's face as she gazed outward.

"See, it's really rare to get a sky this beautiful during this time of year," I clarified, somehow feeling like the view itself was not an adequate excuse for taking her up there. "Usually the sky is murky with clouds. And you practically _never_ see stars in the city... all the lights are too bright."

"Well, good thing you switched off the lights in the apartment before we left, huh?" she joked.

"Yeah."

We made small talk for a few minutes until neither of us could find the right words. We stood in silence for some time.

"... Is that all you wanted me to see?" Maya said out of the blue.

"Only part of it," I cleared my throat nervously, accepting the fact that she was going to ask that question sooner or later. "I actually have something I want to give to you."

By now, Maya had noticed the monstrous book I held behind my back. I'm not sure why I tried to hide it in the first place. She pointed to it, and asked, "Is that it?"

I brought the scrapbook forward, handing it to her carefully. "It's for you."

She took it in her hands as if she were receiving a sacred scripture. "Thank you _so_ much!" She gave the book one look, then glanced back up at me, puzzled. "I'm so sorry, but... what exactly is it?"

I gestured for her to open it. Opening the cover page, her eyes widened. She studied each picture on the first page carefully, the fingers of her free hand laying on top of each one-- trying to get her memories back by some sort of photographic osmosis. She turned the page slowly, focusing on the second page just as intently.

"For your birthday just a few weeks ago... I made it for you," I finally spoke. "It's a scrapbook of just some of the memories we've had together. We were going to finish it together as time went on."

"That is too sweet... you did all this for me? It looks so nice."

"Well, I was an art student in college," I remarked, then suddenly wished I hadn't said it. _You idiot-- being able to paint has nothing to do with being able to scrapbook..._

Maya smiled, then looked down again to study the pages before her. Her face became lost in the tangles of her hair. I tried to see if I could catch a glimpse of her face as she scanned the pages. She caught me off-guard when she exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh!"

"Huh!?" I snapped out of the daze I was lost in. "What is it?"

A little more softly; "Phoenix... "

_Is it you, Maya?!_

This was it. She knew who I was. She remembered me. My heart was pounding. I took a step closer to her. "Maya?! What is it?"

Her bottom lip quivered. Her eyes narrowed, "You did all this for me?"

My heart skipped a beat before I realized what she had actually said, and then my heart sank. She didn't have a revelation... she just saw the last page of the scrapbook. The page on which I awkwardly confessed my love via a note on a napkin.

"Yeah... I mean, we're best friends and all," I half-sighed.

Maya blinked a few times, her eyes glistening with tears.

_Damn it, she's crying-- NOT what I had in mind! _

I pleaded, "Don't cry! I just wanted to give the book to you... y'know, so you'd always remember me..."

_"Remember me?" Couldn't have picked a worse time to use those words..._

"Sorry," Maya whispered, taking a deep breath. "I really wish I _could_." She shut the book, clinging to it like a security blanket. The look in her eyes was distant, but warm.

"No, _I'm_ sorry," I said, humiliated.

"No, I'm sorry about crying. I just hate that I'm ending something that should have been... perfect."

She realized what she had just said, and gave me half a smile as she finally looked into my eyes. "Sorry, that sounded _so_ contrived."

"Don't worry about it," I smiled back. "But, you know, we can still spend time together, if you'd like. It doesn't have to 'end', necessarily. You can visit whenever you want to."

"I'd feel awful making you relive this stuff."

"It'd be... like a new chapter. Accept everything that happened, but move on. We can become friends again."

_We probably can't be a couple._

Maya brushed the hair away from her eyes as she accepted my offer. "I'd like that."

Ready to end the uncomfortable situation, I held out my hand to her, ready to shake on it. "So... we're good, as friends?"

"Of course, Phoenix," she said, taking my hand.

"Hey, you can call me Nick."

"Oh!" Maya smiled, really smiled, for the first time that night. "All right, Nick."

We shook hands in agreement, our fingers lingering around each other's longer than they should have. It didn't feel right, but it was better than nothing.

"What a night, huh?" I asked rhetorically.

I couldn't believe it would be over, in a matter of minutes... the last time I would say goodnight, the last time I would turn out her light, the last time I would wander into my bedroom wondering how I would ever gather the courage to tell the girl I was in love with her.

"I'm glad we spent our last night together like this, though," I mentioned as an after thought.

She agreed, nodding silently. She looked down, and back at me. "Phoe-- er, Nick... it was so thoughtful of you to do all this for me. You're a good friend, you know that?"

"It's the least I could do," I insisted with a grin, though that word she uttered-- friend --did sting a little.

Maya's eyes met mine, and matched my expression of happiness. Her mouth curved upward, revealing the tiniest smile.

I took her hands in mine once again, this time with a little more affection.

Suddenly, her facial expression snapped from blissful to bewildered. I, oblivious to her feelings, finished my sentence: "I love you."

She looked away, blinking quickly to hide any signs of wetness in her eyes. I'd made a big mistake there. Unaware of that fact, I kept talking. "Don't be sad," I whispered, taking a step closer to her, "You have a whole new life ahead of you..."

I thought about this for a moment. A whole new life ahead of her... one that wouldn't include my daily presence. I bit my lip and blinked a few times, clearly trying to hide the moistness welling up in _my_ eyes.

I mentioned softly, "You still don't _have_ to leave, you know..."

Maya brought a hand to her face, rubbing wetness away from her eye. In a voice so quiet, I had to lean into her cheek to hear it, she whispered, "I couldn't do that to you."

Without a moment's pause, I took her in my arms, guarding her from the wind-- and, less obviously, guarding her from the tears that were bound to come. I stroked her hair instinctively. "Don't cry," I said.

As soon as I said it, she emitted a silent sob. Moments later, I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I told myself I wouldn't cry, and yet, there I was-- there _we_ were... crying on each other's shoulders.

After a few minutes, Maya looked up at me, her eyes wide and red.

She sniffled sarcastically, "Don't cry, huh?"

We had both cried so much in the past few days, it was only expected. A grown man on the verge of tears for two weeks straight... through the few tears in my eyes, I actually laughed at the irony. She didn't.

"I should get ready for bed..." Maya finally explained, lifting her head from the crook of my shoulder. When I didn't respond, she asked, "Or do you want me to stay with you out here for awhile?"

I looked out at the view, then at Maya. Tangled strands of her hair whirled around her face as the wind blew through them. Her eyes, though dark with exhaustion, sparkled with concern for my well-being.

It only makes sense that it was that moment that I noticed just how achingly beautiful she was.

Of course I wanted her to stay. I told her, however, to go get her things ready-- I'd meet her back inside in a few minutes. Looking back out at the skyline, I heard the sound of her footsteps gradually cease to exist.

I wasn't crying anymore. I couldn't. If I ever had a chance of becoming close to Maya again, I had to stop crying over the past.

Perhaps she and I were never meant to be together. Maybe the timing wasn't right. Maybe she was too young. Maybe I was too immature. Maybe if she hadn't lost her memory, I would have proposed to her and she would have rejected me. Maybe we would have stopped being friends altogether.

But there would always be that thought lingering in the back of my mind that, maybe, she would have said yes.

Maybe I would never find someone else who could make me feel the way I did at that very moment-- willing to risk the world for her.

I really would.

I looked back out towards the city below where I stood. It looked so pretty from where I was... but Maya was right when she said the beauty fades once a person take a closer look. It isn't really a friendly place. Too many people are hurt, too many hearts are broken, and too many innocents are left estranged. Staring at the sidewalk down which she and I used to chase each other, I felt more than a little disenchanted.

The next day, she would be walking down that sidewalk on her way to the train station, and I wouldn't be able to chase after her.

I sighed, turning away from the disheartening scene below and making my way towards the stairs back down to our apartment.

_Maybe I should kiss her goodnight._ On the cheek, of course. I entertained the thought as I shuffled down the stairs, but rid it from my brain as soon as I stepped into my living room.

She was probably sleeping by then, anyway.

_I'll just make myself a cup of coffee, and--_

"Help!"

I thought I heard someone calling from _my_ room. I called out, "What?!"

A little more desperately, "_Help_!"

That was Maya's voice.

I swiveled around, sliding through the hallway to my room, where I heard her calling...

Something had broken. Shards of glass covered the wood floor in front of my closet. It looked like the remains of an old lamp I forgot even existed. Or maybe it was the mirror that I had put in there after I got tired of seeing the reflection of a miserable middle-aged guy every time I looked into it. Either way, the pieces of glass were big enough to be used as blades.

The second thing I noticed about the scene: there was Maya, her knees on the ground, trying to pick up the pieces.

"What are you doing?!" I rushed into the room, dropping to the floor. For half a second, I was almost agitated.

"I'm sorry!" Maya pleaded, looking shamefully down at the broken fragment she held in her hands. "I was just trying to..."

She took a deep, slow breath. Silence.

"...Trying to what?" I asked, a little more gently.

She exhaled, "I'm feeling kind of dizzy."

She did look a little pale. I dropped whatever frustration I had, suddenly concerned. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine. I just need to..."

She didn't finish her sentence. I waited for a moment. She was shaking.

"Here, let me clean this up," I muttered absent-mindedly, grabbing glass out of her hands. "You need to what, now?"

From underneath her thick bangs, I saw something. Something I never wanted to see out of her again. Thick, deep red, and trailing down her face slowly... blood.

"I need to lie down," she finally finished, fear seeping through her lips. She picked up another piece of glass anyway.

"Maya, you're bleeding," I uttered loudly, half-panicking. "Put that thing down."

She put the piece of glass back with the others.

"Can you stand up?" I said, standing up myself. She looked up at me pathetically, and I had no other choice but to lift her from under her arms, bringing her upright. I led her around the glass, and sat her down on my bed. Before I could tell her to, she had reclined. "Alright, just stay there. Ah, damn it..."

The last thing I needed was another Maya tragedy.

I raced into the kitchen, taking the towel I had used for her bandage and running it under cold water. I took the rest of the kit back with me into my bedroom.

I rushed back in, sitting at the edge of the bed. Hurriedly, I combed my fingers through Maya's hair, trying to locate the actual wound. It was towards the front of her head, the hair surrounding it sticky and damp. I used the towel as a compress, and pushed her bangs out of her eyes.

"How's that feel?" I said after a minute or so.

She was petrified, still shaking. And her half-hearted smile was distorted by the fact that her bottom lip trembled uncontrollably. Who could blame her? She almost died _once_ by head injury...

"Hell, I'm not a doctor. I'm taking you to the hospital," I announced.

"Please don't," she insisted quietly. "I don't need to go back! I just need... to sit here for awhile..."

I wasn't so sure. I lifted the compress a little-- at the very least, the wound wasn't gushing anymore. Maybe she was right. I flipped the compress over to the clean side, and pressed down again firmly.

I didn't realize until then, when I sat still, how quickly my heart was pounding. I really became anxious, for that short frame of time...

I joked softly, "Maya, how many times are you going to scare me half to death like this? Because it's already happened twice; you'd think I'd be dead by now."

A tear rolled down her cheek. She was shaking so violently...

"Uh... I was joking. Don't get worked up over it. You're gonna be okay."

"It's not that," she whimpered.

"Is it the fact that you broke something? Don't worry about that, either. I don't have the slightest clue what it even is that you broke..."

"No..."

"What's wrong, then?"

Maya sniffled, "Now there's something else wrong..."

"What could possibly be wrong now?"

Maya glanced out her window, then back up at me. "Can I just compose myself first?"

"Sure," I replied, standing up. "I'll be right back. You need a little tea... or something."

Maya didn't need tea. I needed an excuse to leave the room before I fainted.

I dipped the teabag into the water, waiting by the stove. I poured one cup of cinnamon tea, which was a feat in itself, considering the fact that my hands were still shaking a little.

About five minutes had passed by, when I came back in the room. Maya held the compress against her wound herself, and had stopped crying at that point.

"... So, now what?" she asked as I sat down with her.

_What are you talking about?_

"What are you talking about?" I blurted, moving her hand away from the compress and applying pressure myself. "I mean... uh. Well, you're not going anywhere, that's for one thing. You can sleep in my bed right there and I'll see how you're feeling in the morning... if you're well enough to leave."

I sat on the bed, leaning against the backboard, my legs sprawled out by hers.

"Leave?" Maya asked, taking a sip of her tea.

"Huh?" I blurted again. _Maybe she's NOT feeling okay... _"You're supposed to go back to Kurain. Remember?"

She gave me a miniature smile, out of nowhere. I was completely perplexed.

"What's so funny? You still want to go, right? You _remember_ that you're supposed to be leaving, right?"

She nodded. "But, now, I don't know..."

My heart skipped a beat.

"Now you don't know," I repeated her statement. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I pushed her bangs out of her eyes. I realized lately that her bangs had a bad habit of covering her eyes, just when you wanted to gaze into them most.

"I just mean that maybe we should pick up where we left off," she suggested, a playful grin tugging at her lips as she tried to speak. "Like you said on the roof, only... without me leaving."

_Did you really just say that?_

My eyes lit up. "You really want to? We can start over, as friends?"

I didn't even realize that her hand was on top of mine, until her fingers moved, grazing the top of my hand. She was smiling now, and I had no idea why.

"Maya?" I said, completely dumbfounded.

Practically giggling, she smiled, "Yes?"

"... What the hell is so funny?"

Her doe eyes met mine, blinking a few times. I smiled down at her, despite the fact that I had absolutely no clue what I should be smiling for. She had almost died... again. And now, from what I could tell, she was laughing because she didn't know if she wanted to leave.

If anything, you'd think that almost dying twice under my watch would ensure her wanting to get out of this place for good.

"I don't want to start over," she finally said.

"Okay..."

"Let's just pick up where we left off..."

"Okay..."

"... Nick."

I said nothing, sliding down the backboard until I was lying next to her. At least she finally got my name right...

"So where do you want to pick up from?" I asked curiously, wondering how 'picking up where we left off' could possibly work with a person who didn't even remember where we left off.

"How about..."

Maya turned to me. She had the biggest grin I'd ever seen strewn across her face...

"How about the time you left me out in the rain all night?"

"... What?" I was unaware there was such a time.

"Yeah, because I was furious with you. And I was trying to get back into the apartment complex, but I didn't have a key, so I was stuck waiting in my wet clothes and your old sweatshirt-- which was soaking wet because of the rain."

"Oh," I remembered instantly. I did mention that instance to her a few days ago.

"And I couldn't wait for you to get home so that I could slap you across the face. But I was crying, because I knew I just wanted to forgive you for what happened. And then you finally showed up, and I couldn't stay mad."

_I didn't tell you all of THAT..._

"And you held out your arms to hug me, and I tried so hard to turn the other cheek, but... I couldn't. Of course. Because it always made my heart flutter every time we did that sort of thing."

I sat up instantly, jerking my head to face her. "Really?"

"And then," Maya smiled in anticipation, as if this were the punch line of some sort of twisted joke, "And then you took my hand, and you said, 'Have you ever wondered what it would be like to spend the rest of your life with someone'?"

"Yeah," I whispered, my own hands shaking now.

_How could she know this entire story...?_

The scene played out in my mind. There she was, her hair soaking wet and in tangles, but it was the most beautiful I'd seen her in a while, just because I longed to see her so badly. And when she accepted my peace offering-- the warm embrace --I knew I'd found it. That thing they always talk about in movies. The best friend that turns into your soul mate, of sorts... better known as _The One_.

I didn't remember telling her that part of the story...

She started, "And then you started to say something, but--"

"Gumshoe," I interrupted. "Of course."

She nodded.

"And you... you remember this?" I asked.

"... Yeah," she giggled, squeezing my hand suddenly. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

At first, the thought didn't register in my mind. She remembered an entire story. She remembered something from before the accident... for about a minute, I didn't know _how_ to feel.

_I've been waiting for this moment for weeks, now..._

And finally, all I could do was grin. Grin, and tremble with happiness. My frail, puppy-dog heart pattered so quickly, I thought I might pass out...

"Nick?"

"What is it, Maya?"

Maya cooed, "Can we pick up from there?"

I laughed.

I laughed, maybe to keep myself from sobbing. It was the moment I had been waiting for ever since I learned that Maya might not ever remember my name again. The moment at which I would finally be ready to tell her that I loved her.

I laughed as I crawled down to her level, instinctively nestling my entire body into hers, whispering her name, ecstatic and relieved. My arm went around her waist, my cheek pressing into her chest as I listened to her heartbeat. For the first time, _she_ ran her fingers through _my _hair, consoling _me_ as if I were a child. She inhaled deeply, and sighed-- almost laughing herself. Our legs tangled as I squeezed even closer to her. I shut my eyes blissfully, enjoying the sensation of her fingers down my neck, and her heart pounding in my ear. It was a feeling I never wanted to forget-- complete elation. I exhaled happily.

Maya whispered, "See, when that thing fell on my head, I was petrified. Suddenly I had this nightmare vision of being hit in the back of the head with some sort of weapon. I fell against a wall, and then everything sort of turned black... I remembered Franziska. And then I realized that it was a _memory_... so I tried to remember what happened before _that_ memory, which was exactly the story I just told you. A happy memory..."

I really didn't care how the memories came back (I was barely listening as Maya talked), but I couldn't complain about her practically whispering in my ear. As if it counted as a response, I nestled my cheek against her skin.

"And all these other memories are coming back to me, now..."

"Good," I whispered, pulling her waist closer.

Silence for a moment, as I beat myself up internally for saying something as useless as "good".

Then the thought entered my mind that she might not be ready for something so intimate.

_Damn it._ The self-consciousness creeped up again. The fear that kept me from acting in such an intimate way for the longest time in the first place-- until it was too late.

I couldn't really let the moment slip by, could I?

_No, of course not._

I'd been waiting for that moment-- a moment in which the circumstances were right for a proposal --for far too long to sit back and watch it fly by.

"I'm just gonna throw this out there," I said, lifting my head a little so that I could see Maya's face. "And I don't want you to feel like I'm rushing anything, so--"

"Just say it," Maya smiled.

"Alright," I gulped. "I've kind of been in love with you for the past year or so."

She grinned. That was a good sign. I grinned back.

"I just want..." I started, but couldn't find any words to complete my sentence.

"I just want to tell _you_ something, Nick," she finished for me.

"What?"

"The feeling is mutual."

I looked into her eyes, grinning. She smiled timidly.

I sprung up from where I was, sitting upright next to her. I was about to say something, but I gave up-- nothing felt right. I wanted to kiss her.

"Yeah, it was pretty obvious," she admitted, "at least, it should have been obvious. All those jokes about us being a couple?"

"I never thought of it that way." I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. "Well, I _did_, but I didn't think you were thinking the same thing."

"Well, I'm glad we cleared up _that_ little misunderstanding!"

We both laughed. Our hands met again as she casually rest her head on my shoulder.

"So," I exhaled softly, "I have to tell Gumshoe if you're coming with us or not. To the city, I mean. We'll probably have to leave in a few weeks, and..."

"... And what?"

"Well, I was thinking... if you come with me... that maybe we shouldn't come back."

"... Really!?"

"Yeah. I mean, this is all hypothetical, here. Plus I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything you don't want to... especially with Pearl and all being so close to here. But we could get a fresh start, you'd be safe from whatever Von Karma's got pulled up her sleeve... and besides, I bet lawyers make great money out there."

"But we can't just leave _now_. How will we get an apartment?"

"We can figure things out. I'll start researching now, if you want. I've always been known as a spontaneous guy..."

"No, you haven't!" Maya nudged me, joking. "I mean, no offense, but you are a bit of a stickler for rules."

"Participating in _illegal _activities and participating in _legal _activities spontaneously are two entirely different things," I clarified. "Hey, if I could make it into law school with a degree in the fine arts, I think we'll be okay."

Maya didn't say anything for a moment, until she asked quietly, "You're not scared at all? To start over like that?"

"Nah. I've done scarier things."

Like, for example, trying to salvage a relationship with an amnesia victim.

Moving closer, she said, "Well, then, you know I'm coming with you. I wouldn't have it any other way."

_It's time._

I breathed, "I guess now is a good time to ask, then."

"Ask what?"

She watched as I fumbled through my pockets. I pulled out a tiny box, shaking.

I knew it was a good idea to keep that engagement ring in my pocket.

"Nick," she gasped, "There's no way...!"

I wasn't quaking with fear, though... I was trembling with excitement.

_I'm about to propose to Maya Fey. I'm proposing to Maya Fey--_

The moment where I actually proposed to her is a bit of a blur. Somewhere in between her gasp of excitement, and her gawking in awe at the ring on her finger after I popped the question, I must have uttered the words, "Marry me."

Both of our hands were trembling, actually, as I slipped the ring through her finger. Though the lighting in the room was dim, the diamond sparkled on the wall, and in her eyes...

"I love you, _dear_," she said with a smile that overtook her entire face, our fingers intertwining.

My heart was pounding.

She closed her eyes, her face leaning into mine. She parted her lips, and I took my cue to close my eyes and follow suit...

_Finally..._

Our lips met, and time stopped.

I tried so hard not to smile as our lips parted and reconnected, with not so much ferocity as to ruin the sweetness and innocence of the moment. Her fingers traced my jawline gently, and as each kiss swelled with increasing intensity, her hand found its way down my neck, stopping at my chest-- at my heart. It was all I could do to pull her in closer to me, grabbing her waist as she fell flat on the mattress once again.

She finally caught her breath, as my lips journeyed slowly away from hers, kissing the corners of her mouth I hadn't yet touched, her cheek, and her neck.

As I nestled my cheek back into the crook of her shoulder, mumbling something about waking up in the morning to pack for Chicago, I took her left hand and kissed her fingers. I'd always wanted to do that. I whispered goodnight, closing my eyes without any intention of opening them again.

I felt Maya's chest rise and fall as she sighed contently.

My heart wasn't pounding anymore-- it melted under her touch. _I_ melted into her arms, lovesick, exhausted, and entirely satisfied.


	10. epilogue

This is it! I hope you all enjoyed my li'l story, here. I guess I don't hate it as much as I say I do. If you want to, check out the sequel to this story (yeah, it was written before I even thought about this story... sue me), YESTERDAY. It's sad. But I kind of like it.

Thanks for sticking with me, everybody! See you on the flip side... a brand new comedy, coming out sometime soon!

* * *

I woke up late. I opened my eyes and couldn't help but feel disoriented.

It was the first time I had slept in my new bedroom.

The walls were a pasty ivory, not the gray-blue I was used to seeing first thing in the morning. The floor _was_ cleaner, but that would change fairly quickly, once I became unmotivated to keep our new apartment looking new.

_Our_ new apartment. Maya and I were officially residents of Chicago, living in a tiny apartment that cost much more than it was worth, but I couldn't have been happier with the result.

Two months had passed since Maya's unexpected recovery, and we were now halfway across the country, in our new midwest apartment. It was a little smaller than what we had before, but neither of us seemed to mind.

I stumbled groggily through the door that separated our bedroom (_our_ bedroom) from the rest of the apartment.

"And that's the last of 'em!" Maya chirped as she saw me enter the room, placing a pewter frame on the end table by our new couch. "So how do you like it?"

Our new living room was really shaping up. Maya took it upon herself to decorate the place and make it look like a well-loved home.

To Maya, though, "interior decorating" meant that every table had to have a frame displaying an old picture of one of our family members or friends.

"Do you think that's overkill?" I asked, pointing to one corner of the room that featured a collage of crooked, mismatched frames and embarrassing pictures of our separate childhoods.

She turned around, eyeing me as if there was something wrong with my logic, "Nick, it's in _style_. It looks good." She studied the wall of frames, suddenly laughing, "At least, the magazines said it was supposed to look good..."

"It's a little busy," I mentioned quietly. Her face fell. I saved myself, adding, "But it might just take some getting used to!"

"Nah, I'm kind of with you on that one. It might be overkill."

She held my gaze for a moment, then looked back at the scrambled array of pictures, and shook her head. "I don't know, Nick. We'll figure it out later. You're up super-late today!"

"Yeah, I know," I ran my fingers through my hair, half-yawning. "How long have you been awake? You could have woken me up, you know..."

Maya took a step closer, wrapping her arms around me casually, "But you looked so cute!"

"Really?" I cocked my head to the side. I thought about kissing her, but her cheek was busy nuzzling itself into my chest. I asked instead, "Hey, what time is it?"

"It's one fifteen."

"What!?" I panicked, jumping out of my skin.

Maya, in turn, jumped halfway across the room. She gave me a mixed look of shock and confusion, sighing with exasperation.

I justified myself; "We were supposed to meet Gumshoe down at the airport an hour ago... oh, damn!"

Maya, still recovering from the fact that I flung her away from me in panic, exclaimed, "Well, Nick, what are you doing?! Go get ready! You have two minutes! Starting now!"

One of my favorite personality traits of Maya's: the ability to turn any situation into a game.

I was already running back into the bedroom. If I lost the game, I would have to grovel and beg before she'd kiss me good night. Though she was fairly quick to give in, I would rather not embarrass myself with a minute's worth of pleas just for a kiss.

Now that Maya and I were both very open about our feelings, living together was even more enjoyable. It was a perfect balance of every day life and fun side adventures-- and the side adventures were always a perfect balance of play and intimacy.

The idea of spending the remainder of my years with her seemed like a better idea with each passing day.

I pulled on a pair of pants and barely buttoned my shirt before I came back outside, ready to leave. Maya held my hand as we flew down the complex stairs, and even as we began our high-paced trek down the street to the subway.

The autumn wind set motion to the red leaves fluttering down the sidewalks. The strong current of the wind pushed us, reminding us that we had better move quickly if we wanted to avoid a sticky situation with the detective. He was probably meandering around the bag check, or waiting patiently in the lobby. Having a drink.

"And when we greet him, he probably won't even seem annoyed by the fact that we're so late," I thought out loud. Curse Gumshoe for being such a decent guy.

"You're really feeling guilty about this, aren't you?" Maya knew I hadn't meant to say that out loud. "But it's just like you said. He won't care. He'll probably be more worried about your well-being than your lateness."

"I guess that's true," I agreed, letting her step through the subway door first.

At that point, being late was not a matter of how fast we could run. The subway's speed could be used as an excuse. We could finally take a breather.

She chose two seats in the corner of the car. As soon as we sat down, she brushed out her hair with her fingers.

"It is so windy this afternoon!"

"They don't call it 'The Windy City' for nothing, Maya."

"I always thought it was all a myth... y'know, _The Legend Of The Windy City_. Or just an exaggeration of reality. But this place is crazy!"

I turned into her, raising my eyebrows. "You don't like it?"

"Oh, no, Nick! It's perfect. Well, not perfect-- nowhere is perfect. But this is sufficiently... sufficient."

I resisted to make a comment about her redundancy sounding like Franziska.

Before I put away the thought, she blurted, "I just sounded like Franziska, right there."

"Eh, yeah, I was going to say that, but... sensitive subject?"

"Not as sensitive as other things I could think of."

I wasn't about to ask what she was referring to.

"I just mean, especially now that we're so far away from all of that, it's so much easier to joke about it," Maya continued. "That's another thing that makes this place perfect... for us, anyway."

_Us_. I still felt a surge of excitement every time I heard that word.

Maya and I sat for a few minutes, making meaningless observations and listing the various ways in which our new city of residence was perfect.

"I'll tell you one way it's _not_ perfect," I interjected. "It's far away."

"Isn't that why we're staying here in the first place?"

"I mean that my mother is making me pay for her plane ticket to come visit us in a few weeks."

"Mrs. Wright!" Maya chirped jokingly, "How could she?"

"I know, right?" I rolled my eyes.

"I was kidding, Nick! I'm so excited!"

She took my hand, holding it between both of her hands in her lap as we exchanged a blissful glance.

As normal of a thing it had become, I still couldn't shake the fluttering feeling in my heart every time she took my hand.

"Wow, Nick, you're vibrating," Maya blushed.

_Is she talking about the fluttering!? _I blushed back.

"You should answer your cell phone," she clarified.

_Oh. _I answered.

_"Hey, Mr. Wright!" _Gumshoe roared before I could even say hello. _"How's the weather on that side of the country?"_

"It's a windy fall day. I never knew seasons like this existed. But aren't you in town already? We're running late to pick you up!"

_"Flight's been delayed over here, pal. It turns out I'm not going to get to you guys until later tonight or tomorrow morning."_

"That's too bad," I grumbled after hearing the news, a little annoyed that I almost had a heart attack trying to get ready that morning only to be told that he wasn't at the airport yet. I covered the receiver with my hand, repeating to Maya what Gumshoe had just told me. Maya seemed excited about this for some reason. To Gumshoe, I said, "Just let me know when you really get here, and we'll make our way over to the airport then. How does that sound?"

_"Grade-A plan, pal!"_

"Alright, see you soon. Bye."

I hid the phone in my pocket and turned back to Maya. "So, why did you just get that look on your face?"

"Because! Now we have time to roam the city!"

I hesitated. "But... we don't know where we're going. We could always rent a movie--"

"That's the point of aimlessly wandering around the city, Nick. It's supposed to be spontaneous. And there's always a risk of getting lost."

"Well," I looked around, "I guess we do have some time to waste. But where do we start?"

As soon as I finished that sentence, the subway made a stop. Maya stood up, demanding that I follow her.

Hand outstretched, she answered, "Here!"

I couldn't refuse.

"We're about to go on an extremely informative tour of the city, and I will be your tourguide," Maya announced, guiding me through the dirty station. "This subway has been around for many years."

"That's your idea of informative?"

"Hey!" She hit my arm, laughing. "It's a start!"

We passed a book store and an empty office building, idly mentioning the grave importance of each one on our journey to nowhere.

"The first cup of coffee was invented here, and was sold in the coffee shop next door," Maya informed me as we stood in front of the vacant building, making up lies as she continued her speech. "It only makes sense that the coffee shop would get more business than a business that didn't do anything but let another company sell its product."

"I wonder if that really happened," I said while we began walking again.

We turned to each other, bursting in laughter. I loved how Maya always had a way of getting me caught up in her innocent games...

We passed by a building that looked as though it had been there since the city was founded. It was a restaurant. A diner, to be exact, with many empty tables.

"You think they have burgers in there?" Maya asked. I could hear her mouth watering.

"I'm sure they do. Want to eat there later?"

"You read my mind!"

She walked slowly front of the window, eyeing the clientele.

"Wait," Maya paused, suddenly turning to me secretively, "Do you see the guy in that window?"

I looked, only half-interested.

There was a man in the window reading his newspaper. My heart skipped a beat.

_Oh, my God._

The first thing I noticed was his brown hair, which was graying slightly in the front. The man repeatedly brushed his hair away from his face, making it clear that he wasn't used to looking so unkempt.

He had a cup of tea waiting for him at the edge of the table he was sitting at.

I wondered where his cravat went.

"What do you know?" I said, astounded. "Is that...?"

"Edgey?" Maya looked directly at him.

He glanced at us from inside the restaurant, and once he and I made eye contact, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Startled, he buried his face in the paper he was reading.

I exclaimed, "That's Edgeworth! Do you think he's become a regular at a cheap _diner_?"

"I don't think he wanted us to find out his secret!"

"We have to go in there!" I demanded.

"No! Did you see the way he looked at us?" Maya argued, making it sound like his glance was a personal attack.

"We can't just ignore him! We came here to find him!"

"Clearly, now is not the time."

I asked, "Do you think I should try to find his number in the phonebook, and make it sound like we were casually in the area?"

Maya laughed, "Yeah, Nick, we were casually halfway across the country and decided to stalk your name in the phonebook..."

"Oh. Yeah, that doesn't really make sense... why do I always do that?"

"But that's what makes you so adorable, _love_."

_Not this game again... in front of the whole street?_

"... I have to tell Gumshoe about Edgeworth, at least!" I reiterated.

I pulled out my phone, but Maya snatched it away from my hand before I could call.

"Can't you call later?" she asked, sliding my phone into my back pocket in a way that made me shiver. She had her arms around my waist, gazing at me with doe eyes. She clearly wanted something.

"Well, since you put it that way..."

She beamed.

"It's funny," I laughed, "We came all this way to find him, and now that we found a guy who looks like, and probably is, Edgeworth, you're not letting me talk to him."

"It's just that I'm having such a good time right now," Maya admitted. "Is that selfish?"

Sort of. I couldn't hold that against her, though. I was having a great time as well.

I'd just have Gumshoe eat at that diner every day until he found Edgeworth again.

"Not at all, _dearest_," I sighed happily. She laughed. I scratched the back of my head awkwardly, wondering what it was about me that always had her laughing.

It seemed that we had reached the end of the sidewalk. We were stuck in the middle of a swarm of people, waiting at the pedestrian light to walk across the street.

I couldn't help but want to laugh at how perfectly everything had worked out, given our previous situation.

I was so indescribably _happy_ with Maya, with starting over, with being unemployed for the time being in a brand new city...

"What are you smiling at?" Maya asked playfully, her hands making their way to my shoulders.

I wasn't even fazed by the fact that this was going on in public sight.

"Do I really have to answer that?" I half-whispered, my fingers giving away the answer as they brushed against her cheek.

_I can't believe I just said that._ I couldn't believe I _meant_ it.

She really had me in the palm of her hand; I was entirely hers. And, for the first time in my entire life, I wasn't too shy to admit it.

She kissed me, lightly brushing her lips against mine. I knew I had to be blushing a deep red. I kissed her back, shyly, tenderly-- hoping that people weren't staring, but at the same time, not particularly caring. I pushed back her hair with my hand, letting my fingers rest at her neck. Each kiss lasted longer than the one preceding it, and Maya pulled herself in closer to me every time our lips reconnected.

A strange feeling came over me. I couldn't stop myself from laughing under my breath, from trying to fight the smile tugging at my lips as Maya tugged at them with her own. I pulled away, allowing myself a few seconds to take a deep breath and calm down before I locked lips with Maya again.

Maya was out of breath, too, and her cheeks were flushed when I took a moment to look at her. We must have been kissing for longer than I thought.

"So what was so hilarious a few seconds ago?" she asked rather casually, considering the steamy lip-lock we'd just shared. She let go of her tight grip around my shoulder and waist, but took my hand.

I don't know what it was that I found so funny. We had to start our lives from scratch. Actually, there wasn't anything even slightly comical about it. The thought of starting over was somewhat terrifying to me.

I'd been smiling widely ever since we'd arrived here, though, and that must've counted for something.

Our lives wouldn't be the same. We'd experienced what was a near-fatal blow to our chances of being together. Maya had been injured in a way that would probably affect her health in one way or another in the long run. I'd been hurt and betrayed enough to know not to trust any Von Karma again.

But, nobody ever said that starting over was so bad. Perhaps the humorous part of our plight is that we were able to find the supreme happiness, lifelong companionship, despite the hell we had to go through to get there.

That was exactly it. After ending that last chapter on such a rocky note, this new beginning seemed pretty promising.

"You make me happy, you know that?" was all I could manage to answer.

Judging by the look on Maya's face, that seemed to be enough.

The pedestrian signal blinked a white stick figure, indicating our turn to walk across the street. Maya's hand in mine, we continued walking -- our destination ultimately unknown. It was the happiest beginning I could have ever asked for.


End file.
